The Jerk and the Seamstress
by Slashflex
Summary: Clumsy and introverted Cecily makes her way to South Park on a whim, and in turn, it triggers an enormous change in her life. LONG-AWAITED SPIN OFF TO "THE GAMES WE PLAY"! CraigxOC ClydeXOC Also rated M for language and sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Welcome to my new story! And if you haven't read The Games We Play, it's not critical, but you may wanna check it out as I'm using characters from that with this one. This features brand new characters (though don't worry, Dahlia nd Clover do show up!), and a brand new story. I'm not 100% done so bear with me, but I do have a few chapters stocked for you all to read while I get back in the groove of things. I also hope you enjoyed this one as much as the first one! Happy reading!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

CECILY

"Hey."

I looked up to see one of my classmates, Clyde Donovan, sitting down beside me with a smile. He shared a table with me in our math class (which was beyond me, wasn't math generally a solo thing?), and liked to talk with me on the rare occasion we had free time. I didn't mind, Clyde seemed like a sweet guy, friendly, and helped class time pass more quickly. "Hi," I said softly with a smile. I wasn't very talkative, but the brunette didn't seem to mind. He teased me about it on occasion, and that resulted in a smile that usually broke the ice-at least for the day.

"Whatcha drawing today?" He asked, gesturing to the Cintiq tablet in front of me, and the pen resting atop the surface of it.

"Ideas," I replied. "I, um...I was thinking of some new outfits to sew." I blushed slightly, looking at him. He knew that I was trying to get into the fashion industry, but I always felt silly talking to him about clothes-he was a jock, what did he care about clothes? He took the pen from the tablet, looking at the now-dim screen. "Well...there's nothing up there yet but a sketch of a body."

"It's cool. You draw really well."

I bit my lip, looking down shyly. "Thanks, Clyde," I said. "I'm glad you think so."

"Yeah, dude! Even the sketches you draw are great," he said. "I wish I could draw like you."

"They're really nothing special," I said, shaking my head at his praise. "But it makes me happy to hear you like them."

He grinned at me when I looked up at him. "You don't look like you're this good at drawing," he said.

"...Thank you? I think?"

"Dah! Goddammit, that's not what I meant," he said, a faint blush on his cheeks. "I just meant you look more like...a librarian, or something."

I giggled a little bit, tucking a strand of my dirty blonde hair behind my ear. "I'm assuming you're trying to give me a compliment, so I'll take it."

He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned at me. "Yeah," he said. After a few moments of awkward silence, he gestured to my hoodie. "Did you make that?"

I toyed with the sleeves and looked at him. "Yeah."

"Whoa, dude, it looks professional. That's pretty fucking cool," He said, then grinned. "You wanna teach me how to sew?"

"It's not hard…" I said with a slight smile. "But if you'd really like to learn I guess I could teach you."

He laughed a little and shook his head. "I'm kidding. I'm not a good student-I don't pay attention." He looked at the clock, and about the time he did the professor dismissed us. "Sweet!" He grinned at me. "Want me to walk you to your car?"

"Um, sure," I said. I gathered my materials, putting them in my bag. My face burned in a blush. Did Clyde like me? I fought the urge to snort-of course he didn't. I was a grown woman and I should know better. "O-okay, I've got everything."

I fixed my messenger bag over my shoulder, holding onto the strap with one hand. I bit my lip as we began walking together, looking down for a moment while I struggled to find something to say. My thoughts were jumbled further when I bumped into someone-a guy-taller and broader than I was. I backed up, my bag hitting my thigh just the right way to send me careening back on my behind, my glasses askew. I'm sure my face would have rivaled a fire engine as I looked up at him, stammering out an apology while pushing my glasses back up on my nose. _Oh my God, he's hot._

Clyde poked his head around Tall Hot Guy as he reached a hand down wordlessly to help me up. I accepted with little to no hesitation, but let go as soon as I was back on my feet. "I'm sorry," I apologized again and he let out a little noise that could have been a grunt or a laugh.

"Don't worry about it," he said coolly, looking at Clyde. "You coming? We had shit to do today."

"O-oh right," Clyde said. He looked at me sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I forgot I told him I'd hang out with him and the gang today."

I nodded with a small smile at him. "I understand." I pointed to the door down the hall. "I can get to my car on my own."

He laughed. "I'll see you on Thursday, Cecily." He and Tall Hot Guy turned the other way, Clyde talking away animatedly as they headed off to their vehicles. I walked to my car, paying careful attention to where I was going this time.

I took a deep breath as I got in my car, leaning my head back against the headrest. "Good job, Cecily. As usual, you embarrass yourself in front of the hottest guys you possibly can, and also Clyde, who is going to make fun of you when he sees you again." I rubbed my eyes, sighing and turning the car on. "Whatever, what's done is done, I guess." I flipped my radio on and flicked the knob with my fingers to turn it up. Once the car was finished warming up, I drove home to my decent-sized apartment (2 bed, one bath), where I lived by myself. It wasn't huge, but it had a pretty good-sized living room and kitchen, and since I obviously didn't use both bedrooms to sleep in, one was my sewing room. It was my getaway place to experiment with clothes and generally just relax. I never had guests over (probably due to the fact I was super shy and had barely any acquaintances, much less friends), so it was fine the way it was. If nothing else, the couch I owned was also a pull-out bed so if people really needed a place to sleep, they could crash on the sofa-bed.

I sat my bag down as I stepped in the door, sighing at the empty apartment before flipping the lights on. I missed home, a little-I was used to a bunch of noise and various animals greeting me as I walked inside. Living by myself was a little lonely sometimes, but I reminded myself that it was all worth it. I turned the TV on to give myself some background noise as I went in the kitchen to grab a little something to eat before fixing dinner. I opened the fridge and let out another huge sigh. Today was just not my day, was it? I had nothing, save for a bottle of ketchup, half-gallon of milk and didn't that used to be a fruit? I remembered telling myself that I needed to go shopping, and even though I didn't necessarily _want_ to go out, I had to if I wanted to eat. I looked at the clock, seeing it was around 4, and made a face. I could either go to a restaurant or I could go grocery shopping and neither one really appealed to me, since I would have to deal with traffic no matter where I went. Living in Denver was more of a con than a pro, honestly, and I wouldn't live there if I didn't have to.

I decided to search for different restaurants in the area, and happened to come across a "Raisins" in South Park. I cocked my head to the side, not ever having been there, punching the address in the GPS on my phone. I shrugged to myself after seeing it was about an hour and a half to two hours to get there, but at this point I didn't care anymore. I wanted to get away, and if South Park was the place to go to get away, that's where I was going.

Once I got to South Park, I was instantly comfortable. It was a small town, seemingly quiet and there was virtually no traffic. Of course, there were the occasional stop signs and stoplights but nothing like the rush hour of Denver. It was about 6ish when I arrived, and pulled into the Raisins parking lot. I was reminded of Hooters and felt a little weird, but when I saw a group of women going into the restaurant, I felt a little less awkward and got out of my car.

I was showed to my seat by a girl named Mercedes, and while she was nice, I noticed that she wasn't as pleasant as she could be-I'm assuming it was because I was a female and she figured woman=no tips. Ah well, I wasn't the type to not tip so she'd get at least a dollar. After a long while of sitting in the booth alone, wasting time on my phone, I noticed a shadow cast over me and looked up. It was an attractive redhead, with a bridge, eyebrow and 3 lip piercings. She smiled at me and beckoned me over. "You look lonely. Wanna come sit with us?"

I bit my lip and looked at the table she gestured to. They were a big table already, I noticed and looked back at her. "Are you sure?"

"Pff, yeah, they're used to us bringing huge groups in here," She smiled again, holding out a hand. "I'm Dahlia. Nice to meet you."

"Cecily," I said, reaching out. "And likewise. I, ah…I appreciate your offer."

"No problem," she said. "You're really cute. I love those glasses." I blushed as I followed her to their huge table-it was one of the booths that took up nearly the entire side of the restaurant, with individual chairs on the other side of the table. Dahlia sat down beside an attractive blonde who was in the booth, and patted the seat beside her as she leaned back against the wall. "Sit here."

"O-okay," I said softly, sliding in beside her. I felt everyone's eyes on me and fidgeted, looking down at my lap. I never liked to be the center of attention…

"Guys, this is Cecily. Be cool-she's joining us for dinner," Dahlia said. I looked up as she gave a pointed look at an overweight man seated at the end of the table. "That means you, fat boy." He glared at her from over the menu in his hands as she pointed at each individual person starting with him. "That's Cartman." Next to him sat a dark-haired man (Stan), a woman with long black hair (a tinge of green in her bangs and underneath) and dark makeup (Clover), a bespectacled redhead (Kyle), and that finished up that side of the table. On our side sat another blonde, seemingly shy (Butters), and the guy I was assuming was Dahlia's boyfriend (Kenny).

I smiled tentatively at all of them, not sure exactly what to say. Lucky for me, the waitress walked up, leaning down by Stan before noticing me. "Your group got bigger."

"Yeah," was all Dahlia said before the girl shrugged.

"Are you ready to order?" She asked, looking around.

I quickly looked in the menu for something while everyone else ordered, and it finally got around to me. I put the order in, just choosing pretty much at random. As the waitress-Lexi, I think her name was-picked up the menus and left to put the order in, Dahlia pointed at Cartman. "You're going down."

"You got lucky that first time and you know it," he said. "You haven't won the wing challenge since then, and that was two years ago!" He put his nose in the air. "Stupid bitch."

"I was sick last time we did it," she said quickly. "And all the times before that."

"You're such a fucking liar," Kenny laughed. "You have to accept defeat."

She snorted. "I got this," she said, then looked at me. "You have no idea what we're talking about, do you?"

"No," I said, then raised my hands. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!"

Clover smiled at Dahlia. "No wonder you went over to bother this one. She's cute."

"Isn't she, though?" The redhead replied. "So, Ceci, where are you from?" She seemed to have forgotten her original question, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to know what was going on between her and Cartman anyway.

"Denver," I replied softly.

"Ooh, the big city," Kenny teased. "What brought you to a little bullshit town like this one?"

"I don't think it's a bullshit town," I said, shaking my head. "It seems really nice." At their looks, I continued. "It's better than the city, in my opinion."

"You are obviously new here," Clover said, with an agreement from pretty much everybody. She gestured to the window with a black gloved hand, at the darkening sky and virtually empty parking lot (it was Tuesday, after all), and back to me. "This town? There's nothing to do here. Really." She shook her head and leaned in close. "And there's all sorts of fucked up shit that happens here."

"Yeah," Kyle said. "Shit we can't really explain."

I bit my lip. "I...are you serious?"

Dahlia nodded. "Yeah. I've only been here for two years, and I've seen a few things that I can't explain." She waved her hand and giggled softly. "But it's not like you're moving here, right? I don't want to scare you into not coming back."

I shook my head. "I'm not afraid," I said. "Actually, that's kind of interesting…"

"It's not haunted," Kyle said. "It's just...well...weird."

"Still interesting, to me," I said as our food came out. I smiled at him.

The conversation was cut short as Dahlia and Cartman had buckets of wings ("Raisin's Wing Bukkits") placed in front of them, and Lexi started a timer. She let out a snippy "Go" and the two began eating. It was amusing, and the rest of the conversation was animated as the two fought to be ahead. I didn't really know what the challenge was supposed to be other than see who could eat the most, but it was entertaining to say the least. I talked with Kyle, Stan, Clover and Butters, while Kenny whooped and cheered the redhead on. She was down by a few, and it looked like she was getting slower as Lexi called time. She wiped herself clean and flopped back in her chair, letting out an irritated sigh. "Fuck, I lost again."

"I told you the first time was a fluke," Cartman said with a smug grin on his face. I noticed he still had a little bit of wing sauce smeared on his cheek but I didn't say anything to him. He looked at Dahlia and reached out a hand. "C'mon pony it up. You're paying tonight."

She rolled her eyes as she asked Lexi for the check. The blonde waitress lugged the two pails back with her to clear room on the table and after a moment was back with it. She slapped it down in front of Dahlia and walked off. I tapped Dahlia on the shoulder. "Wait, you're paying for it all?"

"Oh. Yeah. That's how we do it when we have these challenges-the loser pays for not only the winner and themselves, but everyone else, too. So, since I invited you to dinner, that means you too."

"I...you can't! Here, take this," I said, handing her the smallest bill in my wallet, which happened to be a $20 (and in case you're wondering, yes, it was also the biggest bill in my wallet). "I can't let you pay for me."

"Don't worry about it," she said with a reassuring smile.

"I insist. And...it was nice to have dinner with other people for a change," I said sheepishly. "This is my thanks for letting me hang out with you."

"D'aww, this one's a keeper," Clover joked, winking at me. "She's a sweetheart. We don't have enough of them in our group. I vote we take her home with us."

I blushed crimson and looked at the floor as a few others laughed. "You sound like a kidnapper, Clover," Stan said, but he was grinning.

She flipped him off and I giggled. After dinner was paid for (Dahlia finally stopped butting heads with me), we walked out together, and I was invited to a movie with them. Since I didn't have school the next day, I accepted and followed them to the theater, just a couple streets away. We decided to see an action flick that looked interesting, and since we had just eaten, went ahead into the theater instead of stopping by concessions. I sat in between Kyle and Dahlia, and we chatted amongst ourselves until the movie started.

The movie, titled DoomsDay, and filled with explosions, was pretty good all in all, and I found myself really enjoying it. After it was over, Dahlia walked me to my car, leaving Kenny and the others alone for a moment. "Sorry we drug you everywhere with us… I hope I didn't come on too strong," she apologized.

I held a hand up. "You don't have to be sorry," I said, my face turning red. "I had a lot of fun. Living by myself gets a little lonely, so it was nice to get out and enjoy myself tonight." I bit my lip. "I don't have many friends."

She held her phone out to me. "Put your number in, and I can give you a call whenever we all hang out like this. Or, if we're headed your way and you're not busy. Is that okay?"

"S-sure," I said, putting my phone number in her contacts list. "Um, is it okay for you to text or whatever so I'll have your number, too?"

"Yeah, that's what I planned," she said with a smile. "Thanks for letting me drag you around. And the $20 at dinner."

"It's no big deal. I didn't feel right letting you pay for all of it."

"You'll get used to it. We go to Raisins every couple of months or so and I normally get stuck with the bill," Dahlia laughed. About that time, Kenny called her, waving her over. "Ah, I gotta get going. We have a game date at Kyle's."

"Thanks again for inviting me," I said. "And whenever you're in Denver, give me a call. I have class all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I'm usually home by 3… If you're around that late."

"When we go out, we don't really keep tabs on the time, so I'm sure we'll be around," she said with a smile. "I'll send you my number when we get to Kyle's. See ya around, Ceci!"

It was around midnight when I got home, and I was tired. It had been really nice meeting Dahlia and her friends, and I hoped to hang out again soon-God knows I needed some kind of human interaction besides classes. Talking with Clyde was always fun, yes, but that was only Tuesdays and Thursdays, and usually he was out the door the minute the professor dismissed us. I didn't blame him, of course. After all, I was always pushing him away with my awkwardness, wasn't I?

* * *

"I didn't know you were friends with Clover and Dahlia," Clyde greeted me as he slid into his seat at the beginning of class on Thursday.

"Oh, I'm not...really," I said. "I mean, I'm not yet, I just met them."

"Oh," he said thoughtfully, leaning back in his seat and putting his feet on the desk. "I didn't think I'd ever seen you in South Park."

"How did you know I was in South Park?" I asked after a moment.

"I saw you coming out of Raisins with them," he said. He shook his head. "Between me and you, I wouldn't get real friendly with them. Cartman's an asshole."

"I've noticed," I said with a tiny smile of amusement. "Dahlia invited me to eat with them before dinner even started, so I got a little glimpse of what he's like."

"Good. I think you should come hang out with us sometime. Dahlia and Clover get along with us pretty well-just ask her to bring you around," he said.

I'm pretty sure my face matched the red of his jacket when I nodded. "O-okay." I bit my lip. "I appreciate the offer."

He frowned a little bit. "You're not gonna decline, are you? We're cooler than those guys." He winked at me with the last bit, grinning then. "Besides, Craig was asking about you."

"Craig?" I asked blankly.

"You know, my buddy. That you ran into. In the hall," he said.

By this point I'm pretty sure I was radioactive and they could see my blush in China. "Oh. That Craig." I laughed sheepishly. "What, um...what did he want to know?"

"He asked if you were always this clumsy and that next time to pay better attention before busting your ass," he said, and my shoulders drooped a little, making him laugh. "But if it makes you feel better, he okayed it when I said something about you hanging out!"

"I guess," I said with a little laugh of my own. It did make me feel good that he wanted me to hang out with them-I hadn't gotten this many invites in years. Since it was only _two_ , you can imagine just how dull life was as Cecily Louise Hart, sewing extraordinaire and the most uninteresting woman on Earth.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked.

"Um...nothing. Sewing, probably," I said.

"If you're willing to come to South Park, come hang out with us. We're gonna go to the park and probably play a little basketball, then catch a movie or somethin'. We usually wing it but you can come if you want," he said.

"Sure," I said softly with a smile at him. "It sounds fun."

"Great!" He said enthusiastically.

Before any more words could be exchanged, the professor announced that class was beginning and we "best pay attention, or _else_ ". We'd heard it before, and one of the students had decided to accept the challenge...resulting in near-expulsion, so we didn't test it anymore. The way the professor looked at it was that if you didn't care enough to pay attention to the lectures you were being given, the best place for you was at home. That went for sick days too-we were only allowed three sick days for the entire semester, and if you were out more than those three days, you could count yourself _off_ the roster. You were, however, refunded the rest of your tuition for that class, and told you could try again next year. None of us were stupid enough to spend more time than absolutely necessary out. I hadn't missed a day yet.

Class time flew by, Clyde asking me for help every now and then, and occasionally passing me a note while the professor was speaking (not looking, of course. He treated us like children and whoever was caught passing any note was made to read it aloud in front of the whole class). I genuinely enjoyed math classes, and since I'd be using numbers my whole life, it was a breeze. Once class was over, I gathered my things as Clyde practically sprinted out of the classroom. I smiled to myself. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was starting to like him. It was about mid-year now, and I'd started to loosen up a little bit. I supposed Clyde noticed it too, and took it as an invitation to strike up conversation, not that I minded. And...he wasn't bad to look at, either.

As I stepped into the jam-packed hallway, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "So...I know I asked you to hang out."

"Clyde, you scared me," I breathed, my hand over my chest as I turned to look at him. I frowned slightly. "There isn't a problem, is there?"

"No," he said, rubbing the back of his neck a little awkwardly. "But, like...I know it's a shitload of gas to get back and forth from South Park to here, so...you want me to come pick you up?" His face was red, and I'm sure mine was too as I registered the information. He spoke again before I could and put his hands up. "I mean, you can trust me! I'm not going to do anything creepy, Craig'd have my ass if I did that."

I giggled at that, shaking my head. "Um, no, you're fine. But are you sure? That would be four trips back and forth from here to there, while if I drove it would only be two…"

"Uhhh…"

"Don't be ungrateful," said a deep voice behind me. I turned my head to the side to see none other than Tall Hot Guy-ahem, _Craig_ -and I'm sure my face would have rivaled a fire engine. I jumped and tripped over my own feet trying to turn around quickly enough, and of course, I was unsuccessful. He sighed, holding my shoulders to steady me as he walked past me to Clyde. "So, you gonna let him pick you up or not?" He sounded bored, almost, as he asked, and I didn't think he cared very much whether I said yes or no.

"S-sure," I stammered, looking at my feet. "I-if you want to."

"It's no problem, dude," Clyde said. "You need to get out some. How am I gonna know you're gonna show unless I come get you myself?"

I bit my lip, then giggled a little. "Fine."

"Great! Then I'll see you tomorrow?" He said eagerly.

"Don't you need her phone number?" Craig said, jerking his head toward me. "Unless you're going to knock on every door in Denver. Dumbass."

Clyde laughed it off. "Right."

I blushed and wrote my number quickly on a sheet of paper, handing it to him. "I guess just call when you're on the way and I'll tell you my address."

He nodded and with a goodbye, made his way to his car with Craig. I assumed they rode together, from the way I would typically see them walking the same direction. I turned and made my way to my car, starting it up and taking off to my apartment. I still needed to do some actual grocery shopping, so I decided to go ahead and do that before going home.

* * *

"Hey, so I'm in Denver," Clyde said when I answered the phone. "Where do you live?"

I told him my address, trying to hide the fact that I was kind of freaking out inside. He was _here? Now?_ I wasn't even dressed! "You're actually not too far from me." My voice actually sounded way more calm than I felt and I was a little proud of myself.

"Kickass," he said and I heard a grunt in the background. I could only assume that Craig had come with him and I groaned inwardly. How was I going to embarrass myself in front of him today? "I'll be there in a few."

"Yeah," I said before hanging up. I tossed my phone on my bed before yanking my closet doors open. "Okay, so he said they were playing basketball…" I was murmuring to myself at this point. "I don't wanna get _too_ fancy… Agh, I'll probably just wear jeans and a t-shirt." I tossed some light-wash denim jeans on the bed and just a simple black t-shirt before looking in the mirror. My glasses reflected the sunlight and I sighed, grabbing my clothes and walking in the bathroom to change. I decided to wear my contacts-I rarely wore them, simply because I didn't like them all that much. They were okay, but I just felt more comfortable with my glasses. _That's probably why Clyde said you look like a librarian_.

I ran a brush through my long blonde hair, and with no second thoughts, threw it up in a ponytail. Right about the time I stuck my toothbrush in my mouth, my doorbell rang. I rolled my eyes and rushed the rest of the way. I was not, _was not_ , running to the door with my toothbrush in my mouth. Both times I'd seen Craig I'd nearly tripped and I refused to chance choking just because my balance decided to forsake me. After a moment or two, I grabbed my phone from my bed and made my way to the door. "Ah, sorry."

" 'S cool," he said with a smile. I was glad to see that it was only him waiting for me at the door. "Craig wanted to tag along, but I made him stay in the car."

I laughed. "Why?"

"I thought you may trip again," he said seriously and I blushed. He laughed. "No offense."

"N-none taken," I said with a laugh of my own. "I guess he startles me. I'll be fine today, as long as he doesn't sneak up on me." We reached his car and I slid into the backseat, since Craig had the passenger seat. I didn't say much on the way to South Park, mainly enough to answer Clyde's questions, if he had any. I mostly listened to the other two talk, which honestly wasn't much-Craig wasn't a man of many words.

After arriving in South Park, Clyde parked at a photo shop (Photo Dojo) so we could walk to the basketball court. I, naturally, bumped my head as I got out of the car, and caught Craig's snort of amusement. I looked at him, my face red and he grinned slightly. "Goddamn, you're clumsy."

I bit my lip. "Unfortunately."

Clyde grinned at me, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about him. He's just an asshole." As Craig went on ahead, Clyde lagged behind a little, pulling my arm so I could listen to what he was saying. "Dude's always been like that-he's not so bad once you get to know him."

"A-alright," I said slowly. "I don't know what to say to him."

Clyde shrugged. "He doesn't say much."

He noticed the raven-haired man had stopped a little farther ahead, a hand in his pocket. "C'mon, slowpokes." We caught up to him, at the gates of the little park. There was a group of guys there waiting on us, and greeted us as we walked up. Clyde introduced me, and I learned their names before they began playing ball. There weren't even teams-One of the members of their group was handicapped, using crutches to walk, and so he sat on the bench to watch.

He-his name was Jimmy Valmer- smiled and patted the bench beside him. "C-come on. I'm not gonna bite."

I smiled at him as I sat on the corner of the bench. After a second or two of awkward silence, I looked at him. "It's nice to meet you guys. Um...I'm glad you're letting me hang out with you."

"Clyde d-d-doesn't invite girls out much," he said with a grin.

"Oh?" I asked curiously. "I'm surprised."

"He won't shut the hell up about you," Craig said, sneaking up beside me, watching the other guys. He was on a team with Clyde and another of their friends, Token Black-the only African American in the group. The other two were defending their goal at the moment, while complaining at Craig, who just _happened_ to be the tallest of the three. "You're all he's talked about this whole fucking year."

I looked at him in surprise, eyes wide. " _Really?_ "

"You have no idea," he said, jogging back in time to swipe the ball out of the hand of one of the blondes in the group-from the back I couldn't tell if it was Tweek Tweak or Thomas (no last name, I supposed).

I looked back at Jimmy. "Is he serious?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said. "I think Clyde has a little th-thi-" He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing. "A thing for you."

I looked at my hands. "Well…" I bit my lip. "I don't know. There's nothing great about me, and I think the only reason he even asked me to hang out with you guys in the first place was because he saw me out with Dahlia and her friends."

"You know Cartman's gang?" He asked me then.

"I hung out with them once, kind of by accident," I said with a smile. "Dahlia invited me to eat with them and we went to a movie….But I still don't really _know_ them." I shrugged slightly. "Dahlia did give me her number to hang out more though…"

"I wouldn't get too close to C-Cartman very much. You can't trust him," he warned.

"That's not the first time I've been told to watch out for him," I said. "I got to see a little of him, and honestly…" I bit my lip. "I don't like him too much. I do like everyone else."

Jimmy grinned crookedly and nodded. "Yeah, they're pretty cool."

"Do you guys do this a lot?" I gestured to the group playing ball.

"This is a boring town," He replied. "There's nothing to do here but play basketball and go to the movies, and we usually do that when there's a new movie...u-u-unless one of us has to work, then we do it when we're all off."

"Sounds fun," I said with a smile at him. "I don't really have a lot of friends in Denver...I'm usually behind my sewing machine or in the kitchen cooking." I looked around. "It's really lovely here. I like it a lot."

"You'd be the first," Token said to me as they stopped for a short break. "After living here for a while, country life gets boring."

I shook my head. "I'm so sick and tired of Denver," I said. "I'm only living there because it's close to school. If I had the choice, I'd probably move out here...or go back home."

"You don't wanna live here," Craig said. "Cartman and his stupid friends will drag you into shit that you don't wanna be a part of. Believe me-I got dragged into enough of his bullshit when I was a kid to last me a lifetime."

"So, is it true that weird stuff happens in this town?" I asked, feeling a little silly. "I mean, when I was with Dahlia and Clover, they told me things happen in this town that couldn't be explained. I was just wondering if it was just them or…?"

Craig snorted, plopping down on the ground beside the bench. "Mostly brought on by them. You should talk to _them_ about that if you wanna know more. I've spent most of my life avoiding them."

"Yeah," said Tweek, nodding. I noticed the dark circles around his eyes and how nervous he seemed. I hoped he was okay, and figured he was-no one else seemed worried about him. "Stuff's calmed down a lot, but when we were kids… _Aagh!_ Just thinking about it is freaking me out!"

"Wow," I said quietly. "Tweek, I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's okay," he said quickly, holding his hands up. "Don't feel bad."

"He's always been like this," Craig said as Thomas blurted out a string of obscenities.

"Gah, sorry," Thomas said, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head a little. "I, um…have Tourette's Syndrome."

I didn't know what to say to him, so I nodded. "Don't apologize...You can't help it," I said finally with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. It seemed to make him feel better since he smiled and blushed a little.

"You were right, Clyde," Token said, looking at his friend with a smile. "She is cute."

I felt my face turn red again, and Craig poked me in the cheek. "Your face is red again."

I swatted at him, looking at my hands. "Shush. You always see me at my worst." I pouted a little, making Jimmy, Clyde, and Token chuckle, and Craig merely smirked at me with a shrug, saying nothing.

"You make it so easy to pick on you," Clyde said with a grin. "Lay off, dude, you're going to scare her."

"If your stupid ass hasn't scared her off yet, I think I'm okay," he said with a chuckle of his own. He stood up then, looking at everyone else. "Wanna go again? I'm down for another game."

"Sure," Clyde said, along with agreement from the rest of the group.

"Cecily," Craig called, and I looked up at him. "You're in too. We didn't have even teams." The corner of his mouth tipped up in a teasing grin before he spoke again. "As long as you promise not to break your face."

"Oh, shut up," I muttered, standing haughtily.

"The tips of your ears are red now."

"Just start the damn game," I grumbled as the teams were split into two. Thomas, Tweek and Clyde were on one team, while Token, Craig ( _wonderful_ ) and I were on the other. Jimmy sat out again, of course, and we began our game. I wasn't _too_ bad at basketball, but I was more of a softball/volleyball type girl if I _had_ to play sports. I managed to steal from Thomas and Clyde a few times, and Token would usually be the one to catch the balls that bounced from the rim of the hoop when I missed. He'd score for us, so pretty soon we were ahead. I wasn't sure how long we played but by the time the game was over, we were all out of breath. It had been fun, though and I didn't remember the last time I'd let loose like that and really, truly _enjoyed_ myself. Not that I hadn't before, with Dahlia, but this was different. Clyde clapped me on the back.

"Good game! You have to come play with us more often."

I nodded, sitting down by Jimmy and smiling. "Yeah, that was fun," I said.

"Loosen up, blondie," Craig said. "You're too fucking stiff." He flipped my ponytail. "You're way cuter when you smile."

And I blinked at him as Clyde playfully punched Craig on the shoulder. "Alright, dude, stop picking on her."

A grin was flashed over a broad shoulder as said man walked away. "Who said I was joking?"

* * *

They dropped me off at home after a pretty entertaining dinner and an equally entertaining comedy movie, and I gained a few new phone numbers (Thomas, who was just the cutest, Jimmy, and Craig-though I knew he'd never, ever call me, he asked for it and without thinking I typed it in his phone. He was just too damn good-looking). I waved goodbye, locked the door and made my way to my room. I kicked my shoes off and flopped back on my bed, my hands over my face. "I've gotten popular all of a sudden," I muttered to myself. "I guess I better be careful with all these boys, huh…"

I rolled to my side, flipping through my contacts and smiling softly when I saw the recently added list. I'd made so many new friends-or acquaintances-and I was feeling pretty good about myself. I'd never gotten called cute so many times-I always saw the same old plain-faced blonde girl in the mirror with muddy brown eyes and a beauty mark right under my left eye, huge glasses since I was pretty much blind without them, skin so pale you could nearly see through it...how was that _cute?_

I had a mousy little personality, totally shy, easy to pick on since my face turned red at the drop of a hat. I wasn't _cool_ like everyone else-I rarely cursed, never smoked, and had maybe two or three drinks in my whole adult life. I much preferred the company of a sewing machine or a hot frying pan on the stove, the smell of something delicious floating through my apartment. It was the simple things that made me happy, and I never felt like I _needed_ anyone else. That's probably why it was so overwhelming to hang out with two very different groups of people in the same week. And if I had to be honest-I liked Clyde and Craig's gang the most between them and Dahlia's. I felt like my decision may or may not have been influenced by Jimmy, who was the kindest to me, and genuinely made me laugh. I hoped to hang out with them a little more, getting to know them a little better. It was hard, of course, since South Park _was_ such a ways from Denver-it wasn't the kind of trip you could make daily unless you _wanted_ to spend nearly four hours on the road-and as much as I liked everyone I'd met, I didn't like driving that much.

I looked at the time, and sighed to myself. 11pm, huh…I sighed again and hopped up. Well, I wasn't tired, that was for sure, so I decided to take a shower after getting all sweaty earlier...and maybe bake some cupcakes. I smiled to myself and nodded. It wasn't like I _needed_ cupcakes-though I liked to indulge every now and then. I looked down at my flat stomach and shrugged. It wouldn't hurt to have just _one_ , now would it…?

3 hours and four cupcakes later, I was finally in bed and tired. I took my glasses off, laying them on the nightstand before rubbing my eyes and yawning. I wondered what tomorrow would bring, planning on spending most of my day in front of my sewing machine.

* * *

And there you have it! Chapter One! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, all, thanks for choosing to read my story! I hope you like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Here's Chapter two!

* * *

LEXI

"Welcome to Raisins," I said dryly to a group of already-wasted men, seating them in a booth away from the other customers. "I'm Lexi, your waitress for tonight. What can I getcha to drink?"

I smacked my gum while they ordered, noticing they paid little mind to my shitty attitude. _Thank God_ , I thought. I'd been reprimanded by Lexus before for being such a bitch to our customers, but in my defense, no one knew how much I hated being a waitress. Especially in a crappy little joint like Raisins, that was always crowded by perverts and assholes, and I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. _Fuckin' morons._ I was tapped on the shoulder, Lexus giving me the evil eye telling me -through gritted teeth- to smile.

I did what I was told, of course, no matter how much I _despised_ this job, I had to make money so I needed to suck it up. After a few minutes of deciding, the guys finally put in their orders and I made my way back to the kitchen to retrieve their drinks. "Thanks, baby." One of the guys howled, his hand brushing the top of mine.

 _Smile, Lexi, smile. Ignore those pigs._ This was the main reason I wanted to ditch this shit hole but I needed to play along. Pretend to be interested and they'll give you good tips. (That was pretty much the Raisins motto but only the girls who worked here knew that). I had to repeat this to myself constantly. While I admit, I found the outfits kinda cute, the show we had to put on for these dickheads was ridiculous. I was good at acting when it was absolutely necessary, and I used my looks to my advantage. Guys in this town went crazy for a girl that looked like me. That's why Lexus allowed me to stay here, no matter how many times I fucked up.

They _needed_ me. I could attract new customers with just a wink, could persuade the richest and the poorest of men to hand over every bill in their wallet, leave them drooling, throbbing. Given the chance, I could give every guy at the bar a bigger hard-on than their wives, leave them wanting me and they'd end up in the bathroom before the night ended, with the image of their new "material" still fresh in their minds. The other girls, while they _did_ make great tips, were constantly bitching about how much more I made, how I never really _tried_ , how it was so easy (" _Look_ at her, Porsche, she's so nasty. Look at the way she lets that guy grope her") for me… I tried to never let things get under my skin, especially the other waitresses, but enough was enough, and I tended to snap behind the scenes, when everyone else had gone home. Everyone hated me...but I was fine with that.

"Lexi, cut the bullshit."

"They're drunk-they don't give a fuck," I snapped at Lexus, grabbing the drinks I needed so I could walk back to their table. "They'll tip me whether I act like I like them or not."

"At least present yourself like you care in front of the other customers-the drunks aren't the only people here. I shouldn't have to tell you that," She said, glaring at me.

I rolled my eyes and made my way to my table, handing out the drinks. I took their food orders as quickly as I could, trying to avoid their reaching hands and be as nice as I possibly could. Sure, they needed me, but if I didn't get on Lexus' good side, and soon, she'd fire me with no second thoughts. I hated what I did but I also couldn't afford _not_ to be there.

Even at 21 years old, I still lived with a mother that put my older _actress_ sister on a pedestal, and if I didn't have a job and pay my part of the rent, I was out on my ass. Of course, said sister may as well have been a porn star, as many sex scenes as were in her movies. She made a lot of money, however…that's all my mother was after. That's all that greedy old bitch had ever cared about, and my once-sweet sister inherited that from her. Once, there may have been a time, back when my father was still alive, that we were a happy family. One that was _not_ controlled by the greed and the lies, and the backstabbing, but that family was _gone_ , and I was all I had. I liked the money, but now I just needed it to keep a roof over my head and a belly full of food.

Lucky for me, I had _looks_. I knew before I began working here that I was cute, and that guys liked me over the other girls around here-hick and rednecks, the lot of them-and, naturally, I used that to my advantage. I liked to show off, so by wearing v-neck crop tops and tight jeans I'd get them to flock to me, asking to buy me dinner, or take me out somewhere. I'd readily accept, knowing full well what they wanted me for, lead them on until I got tired of them, and go home. Word got around, but by that time I was a prize, to whoever the lucky one was that could get into my pants. Joke was on them-no one could. I wouldn't let them-I had more class than to just sleep with whoever bought me a nice dinner. I may not have had much, but at least I had my dignity (although day by day my name was getting slandered more and more thanks to rumors from guys that had been spurned).

My shift seemed to fly by for once, and I left, just dropping a quick "Bye" to Lexus. I grabbed what little I'd brought with me (my purse was pretty much it) and walked out the door. It was already dark here, but that wasn't new-I never left work before dark. I ran my hands through my hair and walked to my car (of course it _had_ to be a Ferrari, my mother wouldn't let me be seen in a lesser vehicle), unlocking the doors and sliding in. I started the car, flipping the lights on and turning the radio up. The drive home wasn't too long, but I was glad for the alone time I did have. I reflected on the night as I drove, thinking about the tips I'd made. I knew I'd have to part with at least half when I got home, lucky me…

When I parked in the garage, I was surprised to see my mother's car gone, and literally slumped with relief in my seat. No interrogations when I got in. No sharing of tips. No bitching because I hadn't changed my clothes back to "regular" clothes that "made me look like a _normal_ girl, instead of the slut you are, Alexis". I got out of the car, grabbing my stuff before unlocking the door and making my way inside. I locked the door back before going back to my bedroom and locking _that_ door-Mother was sure to come inside to plunder and take my shit if I didn't. She did it even with me in the room and I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her.

I turned my 32" television on, flipping through the reality trash TV on Primetime that particular night, with what I'm sure was a look of disgust on my face. There was nothing on of interest, and I was already in a bad mood. I was surprised that I didn't come across any of my sister's movies while flipping through the channels. I almost always caught a glimpse of her and it was truly nauseating. Whenever one of her movies came on, my mother would scream with excitement and watch it, sometimes forcing me to sit through the entirety of it, even though I'd likely already seen it.

I guess I had to admit that my sister was a pretty good actress, but did I have to be reminded every day that she was better than me and always would be? I needed to get out of here as soon as possible, but my mother took nearly every cent I had so I couldn't save up for shit. As if on cue, I heard the door slam and my name screeched from the front door. _Great._ The sound of footsteps approached and the next thing I heard was a loud rapping on my door. "You had work tonight? Then cough up your part of the rent, Alexis."

"Didn't make that many tips," I lied. "Used most of it on gas, and the rest is for work tomorrow." I stopped for a moment. "And I paid most'a my part of the rent last week, so this money's all mine today."

"Don't you lie to me," she snapped.

"I'm not lying," I said loudly, followed by a low, "ya filthy old hag."

"Alexis Paige, you get your ass out of that room _now,_ and give me the money that you owe," she said.

"I _told_ you, I don't have it!" I jumped up from my bed, balling my fists. "If you want money so bad, get it from Gianna!"

"Gianna doesn't live with me, _you_ do, and you owe me my rent money, you lazy ass!" She said. "If you don't wanna pay your rent, you can live somewheres else!"

I rolled my eyes as I threw a $20 under the door. "That's all you're getting until I get paid. I need what I make to feed myself."

"I guess this'll do for now," she said, and I could see her sticking her fat fucking nose in the air. "But don't you forget to pay me the rest, you hear?"

"Get the fuck away, you bitch," I muttered under my breath as I heard her walk away.

The thought of her sent shudders through me and I knew I needed to get out soon. However, she was the one keeping me prisoner by draining my bank account. I wished she'd get one of her sugar daddies to distract her long enough to save money, but as soon as they'd see who she _really_ was, they'd leave her. That shit got really old, really fast, but there was nothing I could do. I walked into the bathroom attached to my bedroom to shower, and then I was going to bed. It may have been a little early for when I _normally_ went to bed, but I'd had enough headache for one day. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

* * *

I woke up the next morning in a foul mood. It wasn't out of the norm by any means, but _this_ morning, I awoke to my _wonderful_ sister's voice from the kitchen followed by my mother's voice. I pulled the covers over my head for a few minutes-I _hated_ being around Gianna. My mother liked to compare us, but not nearly as much as when the "star" daughter was sitting in the room with us. From the way I talked to the way I even drew a fucking breath, she had _something_ to say, and I didn't want to deal this morning.

I looked at my clock, and seeing that it was almost time to go to the college (something else my mother had forced me into, I didn't _want_ to follow in Gianna's footsteps), I let out a loud groan and got out of bed. I grabbed clothes for a shower, and walked in the bathroom to get ready for school. My school was in another nearby town (my mother didn't want to enroll me in Denver's university for tuition and distance reasons), so I pretty much could waste time until the last minute-which I tended to do. Or I _thought_ I could waste time-my mother came to bang on the door. "Alexis! You gonna come say hi to your sister?!"

"Fuck off," I muttered, rolling my eyes. I plugged my flatiron in as I began to apply my makeup before attempting civility. "Tell her to hold her goddamn horses and I'll be out after I get dressed!" As I said... _attempting_ civility.

"You watch your language," she snapped. "Get your ass out of that bathroom."

I finished putting on my makeup and started to straighten my hair. It didn't take me long-my hair is short, and mostly straight already. After I was pleased with my appearance, I picked my purse up and made sure my door was locked behind me (I had a specific key for my door-the only key-and my mother couldn't have it), then walked to the kitchen. Gianna sat at the table, smiling at me. Her face was absolutely _caked_ with makeup, her bright blue eyeshadow up to the eyebrows that were barely there, super thick eyeliner, bright red lips. "Hey, Lexi. Nice to see you."

"Yep," I said shortly, grabbing a glass to fill with water.

My mother sat down beside her and gave me a dirty look. "Alexis."

"I don't have anything to say," I said with a shrug, drinking the water. I put the glass down in the sink and looked at the clock. "I have to go to school. Bye, Gio."

"Don't be out late," said my mother, who I called by her first name (Charlotte). "Gianna is only going to be visiting until tomorrow."

"So?" I said on my way out.

I ignored Charlotte's yelling as I started my car and cranked the radio up. I wasn't in the mood for this shit. Not this morning.

* * *

"Hey, Lexi, how was school?" Gianna asked as I got in. I shrugged at her and had almost gotten to my room before I was dragged back by my mother. Literally dragged. I gritted my teeth, yanking my arm away.

"You say something to your sister, you spoiled-ass fucking _brat_! She took time out of her busy life to come see us and you're just gonna treat her like shit?!" she demanded.

"I'm not gonna be fucking compared to her and what she does like she's perfect," I said. "You always shit on me and I am done with it."

"Ma, let her go if she doesn't want to see me," Gianna said with a shrug. "It's no big deal. I just won't come see her anymore."

"Fuck you, Gio," I snapped. "All both of you do when you're here is flaunt your goddamn money all over the place and I'm tired of it."

"Then _you_ go make money," Gianna said. As if it were _that_ easy.

"I fucking try but Charlotte takes it all for the 'rent'. I can't get outta this dump," I said, turning on my heel and storming off to my room. As I stepped in the room, I received a text message. I noticed it was one of my co-workers wanting me to cover for her. Hell, why not? It was better than being trapped around little Ms. Perfect in the kitchen. And, besides...as much as we disliked each other, they knew I needed the money, and knew I wouldn't-couldn't, really-say no. I sent back a quick response, and made plans to this time sneak out when I left the house.

I went ahead and got a clean work uniform out, getting dressed since I needed to be at work in an hour or so. It didn't take me long to get there, but if I had to I'd just go in early-it's nothing I hadn't done before, and nine times out of ten they let me go ahead and clock in. The sooner _I_ was there and working my "magic", the sooner the money was flowing in, was the way they saw it. Even if they didn't like it whatever it was that I had brought the money in and they weren't going to say no to more business.

The tables were busy, mostly full, and the restaurant was bustling with excitement tonight, and for the first time since I'd begun working there, it made some of my bad mood vanish. I actually had the thought that maybe, _maybe_ , I was going to enjoy my night there. I said hello to my co-workers, differently than my usual grunt, as I clocked in and grabbed whatever I may need to begin taking orders. Lexus had nothing to say today, which, of course, was unusual for _her_ , also, but I just chalked it up to surprise in my lack of attitude today.

The first few tables I served were a breeze, leaving me nice tips with promises to compliment me to the manager on duty (Lexus). The next few weren't so bad, but they weren't as nice as the ones before. No problem, I thought, I'm in a good enough mood, so I won't lose my cool. I took pride in the fact that by the time my shift was over tonight, I had not lost my temper, I had not been rude, and I'd made nearly $100 in tips.

Naturally, I knew it was too good to be true. Great nights like this, at least for me, had never ever ended well, and I didn't hope too high for this one, either. I knew my mood would at least be ruined when I walked inside the house to see Gianna and her perfect (underweight) frame, her perfect (whorish) makeup, her perfect (slutty) clothes, and Charlotte just _praising_ what she'd become. I shook the thought off as I clocked out, and bidding goodbye to my co-workers, made my way outside. I made a face at the rain, but it was nothing that I needed to be too concerned about.

I didn't see them coming. I should have, and I chided myself for it afterwards. They walked up beside me, as I walked across the parking lot, smiling. "Hey, beautiful. Just get off work?"

"Yeah," I said shortly. My gut told me that I didn't want to be around these men. They were dirty, they smelled, and way too close to me for comfort. They were around my age, I noticed, and that, to me, was the scariest thing. Older men could be easier to get around. Men in their prime were stronger, and I didn't want to be involved with this.

"You, ah...wanna come with us? We'll buy you a nice dinner. Drinks on us," he said, gesturing to the 3 men around him.

"No, I'm going home."

"You too good for us, blondie?" he asked.

"You fucking reek. Go take a goddamn bath once in a while," I snapped.

I have always been badgered to learn when to keep my mouth shut. This was one of those times that I should have.

He grabbed me by the chin, getting in my face and grinning. "You just fucked with the wrong son-of-a-bitch, missy." Two of his friends grabbed my arms, and the other one yanked on my hair. The dirty, greasy guy in front of me made like he was going to kiss me, rubbing his filthy body on mine, and I cringed. _Fuck._ The guy behind me toyed with the bottom of my top, and the other two had a grip on my arms so tight that I knew fighting was not an option.

The next thing I knew, a cane of some sort was cracked across the first greasy guy's skull, knocking him to the side, and as the leader went down, his buddies forgot about me (Thank _God_ ), their attentions on the unknown rescuer. I backed up, my better instincts telling me that I should run, _I should run RIGHT NOW_ -but my feet were rooted in place. The man that saved me looked handicapped, and I noticed now that what I thought may have been a cane were actually metal crutches. The 3 remaining of the group beat the shit out of the guy, after taking away the only way to protect himself, before looking back at me. Two of them held the handicapped man's crutches and I'd never feared for my life as much as I did then. I knew what was on their mind, and I knew that since someone had stepped in to help me-they'd kill me when they were finished inflicting whatever animalistic desires they had on me. I backed up, into someone's car, hoping that an alarm would sound. Unlucky for me, there was no alarm, and I couldn't go any farther back. I balled my fists and stiffened up, hoping to make myself look bigger.

A tall figure, taller than I was, stepped in front of me, holding his arms out. "Leave her alone."

"What are you gonna do, fucker? You can't do nothin'," one said, with a grin to show off his mostly-broken teeth. "All we want's the girl."

"That's too goddamn bad," the man in front of me said. "I'm not going to let you have the girl."  
"I guess we'll mess ya up like we did your friend over there." A laugh followed the statement, but I didn't think they were expecting the punch that ensued. The unknown protector wrestled the crutch away, hitting one of the assailants with it so hard he nearly bent it, and looked at the other two. I put my hands over my mouth, tears flowing down my cheeks. The other two looked like they wanted to stay and play, but as my protector swung the crutch over his shoulder like a baseball bat, walking toward them, they changed their minds. The other crutch was thrown on the ground, forgotten, as they nearly pissed themselves running away-whoever this guy was must have looked terrifying.

He turned toward me, a look of concern on his face. "You okay?"

I wiped my face quickly, looking down at the ground and rubbing one of my arms. With a sniffle, I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"I'm glad," he said, and I heard the smile in his voice. "How'd you get into that mess, anyway?"

"Well, it's not like I _meant_ to," I said, frowning.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. Poor choice of words," he said. "I'm glad you're alright. Need a ride home?"

"My car's that Ferrari parked down there," I said. "I don't need a ride but you can walk me down there if you want."

He grinned as I looked up at him. "Fair enough."

"What's your name?" I asked him. "And why'd you and your friend do that for me? You don't know me, and there's nothing to gain...so why'd you do it?"

"I didn't want to see a pretty girl like you get raped," he answered. "My friend's the one that saw you first, and I jumped in when he couldn't handle it." He paused. "My name is Clyde, by the way."

"Speaking of your friend, I want to thank him too," I said, walking to where the man lay on the ground. "I'm Lexi."

"H-hey," said the man on the ground. He sat up, running his fingers through his hair and wiping blood from various cuts on his face. He looked at me. "T-t-thank God you're okay. Thanks, Clyde."

"No sweat," Clyde said back. "Sorry I didn't help sooner, Jimmy."

"Don't worry about it," he said back, shaking his head. "I'm glad she's fine, very much. They didn't hurt me too bad."

I sat on the ground beside him, looking at my hands in my lap. "I'm so sorry you're hurt," I said, and I never remembered being this sincere in my entire life. I reached into the inside pocket on my shirt (it was unknown to most, but the Raisin's top had a built-in pocket to stick tip money in. It was creative, but I rarely used it. Tonight was an exception) and pulled out all the tip money I'd gotten. "Split this between you. I owe it to you."

"I can't take this from you," Jimmy said, shaking his head. "I helped cause I w-w-w...I helped 'cause I w-w…" He took a deep breath before starting again. "I helped cause I wanted to."

I shook my own head. "I can't not repay you. You practically saved my life." I held the money out to him again, taking his hand and shoving the bills into it. "Take it. I don't want it." I gave him a slight smile. "I'm never this nice, so take advantage of it."

Jimmy smiled before finally taking it and handing some to Clyde. "Thank you," he said.

Clyde helped Jimmy up, the latter having his arm across Clyde's shoulder to help him walk. "Um...I'll see you around?"

"Maybe," I said, shrugging. "After what happened tonight, I may need another job."

He grinned slightly. "If you live around South Park, there are a few places hiring. Just keep an eye out." He winked at me. "I don't want to have to save you again."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about me-I'm fine. I'll leave this dump-it's not happening again."

"You s-sure you're okay?" Jimmy asked as I got into my car.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks, seriously. I didn't think I'd be able to get away from them." I shut the door and rolled the window down to tell them goodbye. "You may wanna buy a new crutch." All three of us looked down at the bent metal in Jimmy's hand and laughed. "See ya."

Clyde threw a hand up at me and Jimmy smiled. I watched them through the rearview mirror until they disappeared from sight. I hoped they'd make it back home alright, and if I didn't want to be in any more trouble for the night, I needed to do the same. It was nice to know that there were people out there who would risk getting the shit beat out of them just to help out a stranger. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how fortunate I was.

However, the thought quickly left my mind as I entered the house, sneaking past my mother's room and into mine. I was completely empty handed after such a great shift. A hundred bucks, gone. If I weren't so exhausted, I probably could've cried myself to sleep.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading. Chapter Three should be up soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cecily's POV

I awoke to someone knocking on my door, rather loudly, and looked at my clock. Bolting upright and leaning so close to the digital face of the clock that my nose nearly touched it, I raked my fingers through my hair and sighed. The crack of noon-again. I was doing this way too often lately, and it was messing me up-especially since my body had become accustomed to getting up at 8am. Since meeting Jimmy and his friends, I'd started staying out later to hang out with them, and being so wired when I got home I'd stay up until nearly 4am. Though...now that I'd had a taste of it, it was really nice to be out and about rather than stuck in my house. It was a lot lonelier now that I had actual friends that wanted me with them.

I got up and dressed quickly, putting my contacts in just in case it was Craig and Clyde taking me back to play basketball with them. I ran a brush through my awful bedhead and threw it in my typical ponytail before brushing my teeth, grabbing my phone on the way out, and answering the door. Craig stood there boredly, a blue hat on his head. "Was wondering when you'd answer the door, blondie."

"I, um…"

"I woke you up," he said. "Didn't I?"

"Yeah…" I bit my lip and looked at the ground.

"You forgot that I was picking you up, didn't you," he said dryly.

My face turned a thousand shades of red, and I knew I wouldn't be able to look at him. "I..guess I kinda did…"

"Come on, Jimmy's waiting in the car," he said, ruffling my hair like a big brother, and walking off. I locked the door and walked to the car, noticing that Jimmy sat in the back seat, leaving the passenger's side clear. "Get in front. He said he didn't feel right letting you in back."

I blushed, nodding and getting in the car. I turned around, smiling at the brunette. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I'm doing okay, I think," he said with a smile. "M-my new crutch finally came in."

"Oh, good! I'm glad," I said. "How hard did Clyde hit him?"

"Hard enough to bend the metal," Craig said with a snort. "I shouldn't mention that afterwards he came to my house shaking because of all the blood that was on him."

I looked at Craig, eyes wide, as he started driving. "Really? Poor guy," I said. "I'm glad you were able to help that girl, though."

"Y-yeah," Jimmy said.

"Turn around," Craig griped. "You're going to get me a ticket."

"Sorry, sorry," I said, fastening my seatbelt and putting my hands in my lap.

"You really are a good girl," he said, grinning at me. "You need to loosen up, blondie."

I looked at my hands. "Well...it's hard to...around you guys." I breathed a sigh of relief to myself. I'd almost let the cat out of the bag with that one-I'd nearly stopped at just "you", and I really didn't want him knowing I liked him. Kind of. Not really. With another inward sigh, I wrung my hands together. _You're such a bad liar._

The rest of the drive to South Park mainly consisted of conversations between Jimmy and I, cute jokes that made me laugh (also by Jimmy), and a little light teasing from Craig. In the short time I'd known him, I'd come to understand (okay, and maybe Clyde and Jimmy told me that he didn't _really_ mean to be a jerk, he was just messing with me...and he'd been like that for as long as they'd known him) that Craig's teasing was only that-teasing. I had the feeling that he enjoyed making me uncomfortable, since that made me flustered and apparently that was hilarious.

After we got to where we were going (first stop the basketball court), Jimmy took his spot on the bench, and gestured for me to sit with him. I did as I was asked until the others arrived (Tweek, Thomas, Clyde, Token), and informed me that I was expected to play with them, since they didn't have even teams again today. The teams were the same as the last time, and Clyde, Tweek and Thomas ended up winning this one. Just barely, though, according to Jimmy. I soon learned that the brunette was the designated scorekeeper, since he couldn't actually play the game.

When the first game ended, I sat down by Jimmy again as the other men began their round two (though I looked like I was in shape, I sadly was not, and needed a break). "They're fun." I smiled at him.

"Yeah. Much better than Cartman's gang," He said. "Craig's a little rough around the e-e-edges, but he's fun to be around, very much."

"I'm starting to like him," I said. "He's kind of hard to like, at first."

"Yeah, but you'll get used to him," Jimmy said.

I nodded, smiling. "I like all of you. You're all really nice to me…" I felt my face turn red and put my hands over my face, shaking my head. I looked back up at him. "I'm not really _used_ to having friends...that want me to hang out with them."

"If we didn't like you, we wouldn't invite you to hang out w-w-w-with us," he replied with a smile. "You're cute."

I shook my head, laughing a little. "I'm beginning to think that's the only reason anyone wants me with them. Dahlia and Clover said the same thing when I first met them."

He laughed. "It's different seeing someone like you around a place like this."

"Oh, are people here not nice? Or…"

"No, in a small town, everybody knows everybody," he said. "Most of us are com-c-comf-comfortable around each other."

"Oh," I said quietly, looking at my hands in my lap. "So...I'm a breath of fresh air, huh…"

I wasn't sure how to feel about that, but he put a hand over mine. "I didn't say it was a bad thing."

"So. I know I'm really new here and all, but when the freshness wears off, I'll still be welcome, right?" I asked. As the question left my mouth, I knew how desperate I sounded and bit my lip. "Ah, sorry. I'm terrible in social situations."

He leaned forward, placing a kiss on my lips. I looked at him in total shock after he pulled back, my face beet red. He laughed at me, then. "It's okay. I think you're j-just fine."

I heard a whistle from the basketball court and saw Clyde wink at me, waving. "Way to go, Jimmy!"

I "eep"ed, covering my face with my hands. As much as I positively hated to admit it, I'd never kissed a man before, even something small like that, and to have attention drawn to me because of it...I kind of wanted to crawl in a hole.

"Come on, blondie, don't tell me you've never had a boyfriend before…"

I peeked through my fingers at Craig, who was grinning at me, and hesitantly shook my head. "Don't make fun of me." My voice was muffled by my hands, so I took them down, prepared to repeat myself if needed.

He merely shrugged. "You're a lucky man," he said to Jimmy, who was grinning and shaking his head. He snickered. "But you have to be careful around her. She'll fucking kill you."

"Oh, shut up," I said to him, narrowing my eyes. "I don't _mean_ to trip."

"Exactly."

I sputtered for a second before letting out a huff and crossing my arms over my chest. "I'll do whatever I can to not trip."

Jimmy grinned. "I'll lend you my crutches," he teased.

"Not you, too!" I said, frowning. "Everybody's ganging up on me."

The brunette patted my shoulder with a laugh. "I'm joking," he said.

"Hey, blondie, you're up," Craig said.

"Aren't you guys in the middle of a game, or something…?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Still a man short, and you're not wheezing now," he said, and I wanted to cringe. He really didn't have a way with words. I wasn't _wheezing_ , I was...panting. Yeah, that's a good word. "And Jimmy's already made a move on you."

"Alright, alright," I said, getting up. As I passed him I looked up and grinned slightly. "Jealous?"

He snorted, but didn't say anything. Part of me was relieved-I totally expected him to make a comment about my clumsiness, but he didn't. "You're on my team," he said.

"Again? Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"

"Nah," he drawled with a grin. "At least when you're with me there's someone around to catch you."

I wasn't prepared for his answer (incorrectly assuming that he'd counter with something else to tease me), and my heart beat a little faster. "I, um…" I coughed. "I see."

"Your face is red again," he said with a grin. "You blush a lot, Blondie. Does it have anything to do with me?"

"You keep picking on me, you big jerk," I said with a frown. "And you enjoy embarrassing me. I don't always look like a lobster."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Keep it up, you're going to make your boyfriend jealous."

"He's not my boyfriend," I said, shaking my head. The game started shortly after that, cutting our conversation short. It was a long game, longer than usual, but it was fun. I enjoyed myself, and even though I knew I'd be sore the next day, was really glad he "talked" me into playing with them. I was getting a little better by watching them, and was actually able to make a few shots of my own in, instead of having to pass to Craig or Clyde.

After the game was over, we piled in the car to go to a nearby burger joint, instead of Raisins this time. The conversation was animated as we piled into a large booth with chairs on one side-that way Jimmy would have it a little easier getting up and down. He needed the crutches to walk long distances, but I noticed that he didn't use them if he was only going a few feet. That being said, he still preferred to sit on the outside, and patted the seat beside him for me to sit there. I did as I was asked (and because I liked him) and Clyde sat on the other side of me. The rest of the group sat on the other side. Craig sat at the end, followed by Token, Thomas, and Tweek.

"So, Cecily, what do you do?" Token asked after a moment or two of animated chatter amongst all of us as we waited for our food.

"Um, I do sewing commissions," I said. "Like, cosplays for conventions and stuff like that."

"Oh, that sounds interesting," he said, and I felt like he was being genuine. "Clyde mentioned that you liked to make clothes."

"He did, did he…" I said, shooting a look at Clyde.

He grinned at me, rubbing the back of his head. "I thought it was kind of cool."

"Thanks, I guess," I said, my face red once again. I smiled. "However, I do appreciate the compliment."

"Yeah, no problem," he said.

"So, Cecily...if I asked you to tailor something for me, would you be able to do that? For a price-I'll pay whatever you ask me to," Token proposed.

"Well, I suppose I could," I said. "It may take me a bit, since if I have to tailor something I do it by hand. But, if you don't mind, I'll be more than happy to do it for you."

"Great! After we leave here we can go by my house to pick it up. It's a suit I need done for an important interview next week. How much will you charge?" He asked.

"Um," I paused. "It'll be easier to tell you once I see what needs to be done."

He nodded. "Sounds fair."

The rest of our lunch was fun, talking amongst ourselves. Jimmy and I had our own little private conversation that ended in a date invite. I was surprised, and so I said yes-and my heart started beating a little faster. My first ever date, and with someone I _liked_. I looked over at Craig, who thankfully didn't seem to hear it, and berated myself. Why did I need _his_ approval anyway? Who _was_ he?

I supposed the reason was that I wanted him to be jealous. I kind of wanted _him_ to be the one asking me on dates, but I knew _that_ wasn't going to happen no matter how hard I wished for it, and I just needed to give up on that stupid idea right now. Besides, Jimmy was a really, really great guy. Sweet, cute, funny, and almost completely different from that jerk Craig, and he was the better choice for me. Of course, inner me was attracted to the "bad boy" asshole image, and Craig was just _so_ damn good-looking.

I agreed to meet Jimmy whenever I was finished with Token's suit-I'd drive over instead of them wasting all that gas to come pick me up-and we'd go out. He told me to dress up, and I started racking my brain as to whether I'd have to make a dress or if I had one readily available. After a few moments of thinking, I decided to just see how much work I had to do to Token's suit and that would make my decision to make a dress or buy one. We left the restaurant, and since it was still early in the afternoon (well, and Craig didn't feel like driving me home yet), we went to the bowling alley for some entertainment.

Dahlia called as we stepped in the double doors to the alley, and I excused myself to go talk to her. "Whatcha doin', Ceci?" She asked me. "I haven't heard from you lately, and was wondering what you were up to."

"I'm in South Park now," I said. "Craig picked me up this morning and I've been with them all day. We're in the bowling alley getting ready for a game now."

"Okay," she said. "Tell Craig that when we get there, we're gonna whoop his ass. He's a terrible bowler."

"Ah, okay," I said hesitantly. "Um, you don't think he'll be upset, do you?"

"Why would he be upset? Cause we show up?" Dahlia said. "Nah, he'll be fine. It's not like you invited me, right?"

"Well…" I wasn't sure what to say.

"Don't worry about it," she said, and I heard the laugh in her voice. "I'll take the heat for it. In fact...don't even mention anything about us coming up there. I know I just told you to tell him, but this way he won't think you told us where you were. We won't bring the fatass either, if that's what you're worried about."

"Thanks," I blurted out without thinking. "Crap, I mean-I'm sorry-"

Her laugh cut me off. "I know, no one likes him. We don't like him half the time, so it's okay to say so." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to round up the rest of the gang and we'll meet you there in about 15 minutes. Have fun!"

"See ya," I said, hanging up the phone and going back inside to rejoin our group. They were all standing at the shoe counter, waiting on me.

"I p-p-paid for you, so go ahead and get your shoes," Jimmy told me.

"Oh...thank you," I said. "You didn't have to, you know."

"I wanted to," he said. "I don't mind."

I nodded, as we all got our shoes and went to our designated lane. Lucky for us, the board did allow seven players, and we all input our names before the game began. Naturally, Craig teased me about needing the bumpers (of course, I retorted that they'd be better for him than me), or something about helping if I needed it, not to mention the "Oh, be careful not to trip in the lane!" that came out of his mouth. I rolled my eyes hard at that one, hearing Tweek's soft, "Oh, God!". Poor guy...I felt for him, and instinctively wanted to hug him and protect him. Of course, I couldn't do that, but it tore at me that he was so anxious all the time. I hadn't heard an outburst from Thomas in a while, today, so I supposed it was a good day for him.

I went first, and the ball hit the pins for a strike as Dahlia and her group walked to the lane beside us. "Oh, hey."

"Goddammit, not you guys," Craig groaned.

"Nice to see you too, good-lookin'," Dahlia teased, winking at him. "Nice strike, Ceci."

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"Why did you pick today of all days to come bowling?" Craig complained, but I could tell from his tone that he wasn't really upset-probably teasing her like he did me all the time.

"We like to get out of the house too, ya know," she said, frowning slightly.

"Precisely." Clover chimed in, creepily hanging her head to the side and widening her eyes. "I can't stay in the dark forever."

The guys just stood there, the most horrified look on their faces -even I was creeped out by it. Then Dahlia looked at Clover and the girls both roared in laughter. "Chill the fuck out guys."

"That's exactly the kind of shit that makes us not want you around." Craig shot back.

I finally giggled. "They're fun," I said to him as his turn came up. He rolled his eyes, grabbing a ball and walking to the lane. I watched him as he threw the ball, unintentionally, until Dahlia tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey," she said. "You've got a thing for him, don't you?"

"Eh?!" I asked, and I knew she knew that I did from the way I overreacted. "I...um…"

She winked at me. "If you want him, go get him. He's a pretty gorgeous guy so don't hesitate or he'll be snatched away by someone else." She gestured to Kenny, who was turned with his back toward the lane and throwing the ball between his legs. With a roll of her eyes, she laughed and looked back to me. "That's what that dumbass did with me, and I really wouldn't change it for the world." She got a thoughtful look in her eye and ran her fingers through her hair. "He may be stupid as hell but I love him."

I smiled to myself. "I'm afraid it wouldn't work that way with…" I didn't want to say his name, since he was getting ready to head back this way. "...well, you know. I don't really think he likes me that much."

"If he came to your house two hours away to drive you back here, he likes you more than he's letting on," Dahlia said before her turn rolled back around and she walked away.

Craig stepped up beside me, tugging on a lock of my hair. "You keep on looking at me, Blondie."

"I also keep looking at Dahlia," I pointed out, although I knew what he was getting at.

"Well, just wanted to let you know it's your turn," he said as Clyde finally noticed Dahlia and their group. I heard his voice as I stepped up to the lane to bowl, but not what he was saying. I felt Craig's eyes on me, and I can't say that it made me feel all that uncomfortable. What if Dahlia _had_ been right? I didn't think so, didn't want to hope so, especially now that I had someone actually interested in me and showed it. I mean, all I'd promised Jimmy was one date, but I really, honestly liked him. I threw the ball, getting a 8 out of 10 split, and frowned. There was no way I'd be able to hit them both, but I threw the ball anyway-and it ended up going right between them. I shrugged, walking back to where Dahlia stood.

"Nice try," she said.

I grinned at her. "Thanks," I said. "Oh, I have something to tell you, that you may be interested to hear…"

"Yeah?"

"First thing is, I'll be in South Park again sometime this week if you want to hang out," I said. "Second is, I have a date."

"With Craig? Already? Jesus, you work fast," she said, laughing.

"No, no," I said, my face flaming red. "With Jimmy. Token has something he'd like me to tailor for him, and once I get that done, Jimmy's going to take me out."

"Way to go," she said. "Jimmy's a hell of a guy. I like him a lot." She looked at the raven-haired man thoughtfully. "But are you sure you wouldn't rather _that_ one?"

I nodded. "I think I'd prefer someone who doesn't constantly tease me, thank you." I shrugged. "And...it sounds so stupidly cheesy, but if it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

She laughed. "You're right, that was cheesy," she said. "But I guess you've got a point." She smiled at me widely then. "When you've got time to spare, I'll tell you what went down between Kenny and me. It's a long, fuckin' complicated story, but it may be something you're interested in if you're into the 'if it's meant to be' thing."

"Sure," I said. "I'd love to hear it."

"She's right," Clover said. "Long story short, they're both stupid losers that don't know a good thing when they got it and had to make shit way more complicated than it needed to be. It took a month before they finally decided what they wanted."

I laughed to myself. "Somehow, I don't doubt it," I said.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent at the bowling alley with the two groups, ending with me promising to at least spend one night at the apartment Clover, Dahlia, Stan and Kenny all shared whenever I got Token's suit finished. I agreed-I'd have my car then anyway, so it wouldn't be a huge deal to worry about how I was getting home-and we split ways. Everyone in Craigs group split also-I rode with Craig and Jimmy to Token's house for the suit, but the others went home.

I was relieved to know that Token's suit only had to be taken in slightly, and with as minimal work as I had to do to it, I probably could've knocked it out in an hour or two, had I had my sewing kit with me. Lucky for me, Token's mother had some spare stick pins in an old pincushion and I was allowed to use those for Token's measurements. I promised to get it back to him in a few days, long enough for me to make sure I had enough money to put gas in my car and groceries in my fridge. He smiled and paid me $50 upfront (which was way over what I would have charged-it wasn't going to take me long at all and I wasn't at all worried about a tip, but he insisted), resulting in a huge hug from me (with a follow-up of embarrassment, of course).

We dropped Jimmy off at his house before Craig began the long drive back to Denver. I wasn't sure what to talk about with him, so stayed quiet for a long time. "You don't have to keep your mouth shut on my account, ya know," he said after some time.

"Oh, I...just don't really know what to talk about with you," I said. I bit my lip and toyed with the seatbelt.

"You really need to loosen up," he said to me. "I'm not gonna eat you."

"I'm not really...I'm not worried about that," I said. "I don't really talk to people."

"You talked to Jimmy enough for him to ask you out, didn't you?" he said to me and I looked at the dimly lit floor. I didn't know how to reply back to that, so didn't say anything. "Unless you're scared to talk to me because you _like_ me or something." He snickered to himself for a moment.

"Of course not," I said snootily, then smiled to myself. "Look, you'll have to give me some time. It's taking some getting used to."

"Get used to it faster. You're too stiff." He shook his head. "Makes me uncomfortable."

I sighed, then laughed slightly as I agreed with him. The ride home was filled with a little small talk, just trying to get to know each other a little bit better. It was nice talking to Craig, albeit a little nerve-wracking since I _did_ of course like the guy. As I bid him goodbye, walking into my house, I noticed I had a little bit of an issue keeping the smile off my face.

* * *

Three days later, I was on my way to South Park, Token's newly-tailored suit in my backseat, the radio cranked up and for the first time in a long time, dressed up and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel _pretty_. I normally didn't give two shits about my appearance, and dressed to be comfortable since, well...no one was interested in me anyway. Now, however, since I was getting used to my contacts and I was on my way to meet my date- _date!_ -at a nice restaurant, I'd been sure to purchase a beautiful dress and fix my hair just right. I wore wedges tonight-that's another thing I hadn't bothered to do in years-and surprisingly I walked in them better than I remembered.

I met Token at Jimmy's house, since Clyde had informed me that day at school they were going to play ball, and Token had Clyde relay to me that he'd just pick his suit up there. I nervously agreed-I was a little self-conscious, even knowing Jimmy was going to be as dressed up as I was. I supposed it was due to the fact I didn't really show a lot of skin around anyone, and this dress came up a little higher than I was used to (higher meaning instead of knee-length, this was more the mid-thigh type of thing, and I didn't feel like it left much to the imagination, but _damn_ did I look good in it). Token had merely grinned at Jimmy as the latter walked out of his room, in a button-down shirt and black slacks, taking the suit from my hands and wishing his friend a "good luck". Jimmy chuckled, picking his crutches up and walking my way.

The place he took me to was beautiful, fancy, and at first, I felt _so_ out of place. He calmed me quickly, making me laugh and releasing all the pent-up tension. I got to know him a little better then, learning a little about his childhood and the memories he shared with everyone else I'd met. I had a great time, and by the end of our dinner together I was feeling really comfortable with him, letting a little more of who I really was show. I wasn't as uptight as I normally was, and really owed it all to Jimmy. He drove me back to his house (he _could_ drive, just not long distances and preferred not to drive too far outside of South Park. For instance...my house). I went in for only a moment, since Dahlia had called me twice already begging me to come to their apartment for drinks- "And bring Jimmy with ya!" she yelled _really loudly_ at me over the phone, but he'd heard and politely declined, since he had his own set of classes tomorrow at school. He merely smiled, and with a chaste kiss, sent me on my way. "Have fun," he said. "Let me know how it goes, and next time I'll be sure to come."

"If you're sure, Jimmy," I said, looking at him in a little concern.

He waved it off, smiling at me. "I'm s-s-sure. Go have fun with them."

I gave him an impulsive hug and kiss on the cheek. "You're really sweet, Jimmy. I'm glad I went out with you tonight." He chuckled again, and waved as I made my way out the door. I called Dahlia once I got in my car, kicking my shoes off so I could drive. She gave me instructions to their apartment, and I was surprised just how easily I found it. Not that South Park is a huge town or anything, I am just _terrible_ with directions. I slipped my shoes back on before grabbing the bag of spare clothes from my backseat (along with different shoes, thank God), and walking to their door to ring the doorbell. Dahlia answered the door, and looked me up and down with a low whistle.

"What the fuck was he _thinking_ , letting you out of his sight dressed like _that_?" She shook her head. "Man's a goddamn _saint_ , I swear to God."

I blushed wildly, and chewed my lip a little. That was a huge compliment to me, no matter how weirdly it was delivered. I thought about that a little as I walked in, and the room went silent. Like, you couldn't hear anything but the a/c kick on, silent and I didn't know what to do. I let out a little "Hi" and waved, backing up a little so I wasn't the center of attention.

Craig, who I only noticed when he spoke to me, was the first to speak. "You, um…" He cleared his throat a little, avoiding eye contact with me for a second before continuing. "You clean up really nice, Blondie."

"She does, doesn't she?" Dahlia said, walking toward me and putting an arm around my shoulders. She pulled me over to the couch, plopping down on Kenny's lap and pulling me down beside them (not that I had a lot of room…). Of course, I was squeezed in between them and Craig, and he looked less than comfortable with the situation. I put my hands in my lap, pulling down the skirt that had ridden up a lot higher than I would have preferred, then gave him a weak grin. Dahlia slapped a bottle of Smirnoff in my hand. "Drink it."

I twisted the top off, putting the top of the chilled bottle to my lips. It was grape-flavored, and I found myself really liking it. I looked around at who occupied the living room (Stan, Kenny, Clover, Dahlia, Craig and myself), and then back down at the bottle. Craig nudged my arm with his, gesturing to the bottle. "So you _do_ drink."

"Yeah," I said with a slight blush. "It's about the only thing I do that could ever be considered...I don't know... _naughty_ , I guess."

"It's a start," he said with a teasing grin at me, lifting a bottle of Kahlua to me. "Bottoms up."

I raised mine and we took a drink at the same time. I wasn't sure what to do, but him being pleasant was pretty nice right now. I toyed with the bottle in both hands, Dahlia leaning over my shoulder. "Hey."

"Yeah?" I asked softly, looking at her.

"Wanna do something fun?" She said, a devilish glint in her eye.

I looked at her in curiosity as she got up, grabbing a half-full bottle of tequila and pouring six shots-one for each of us. I bit my lip and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, unintentionally sinking back into the couch. I'd never done shots before…She smiled at me, beckoning me to her. I kicked my heels off (if we were doing shots, I had a feeling wearing my heels probably wasn't a good idea) and walked to her, taking the chance to smooth my dress down and tie my hair up. In hindsight, while the dress was cute, it probably wasn't the best idea for a modest girl like me. I was soon followed by everyone else, and we were all passed a shot. Dahlia quickly went over how to do the shots with me, correctly assuming that I was inexperienced, then we all downed the alcohol in front of us. I winced as it went down and Dahlia cheered, clapping Clover on the back and pointing at me. "Am I fucking good or _what_?"

Clover smiled at me and nodded. "You are," she said. "I didn't think she'd do it. You're more fun than we thought you'd be, Cecily."

"About fucking time," Craig piped in. He grinned at me again. "I think I like this part of you."

"I'm the same girl as I was before," I said with a slight shrug. "I mean…" I felt myself blush and looked at the floor. "I'm trying not to be a party pooper."

"You're really great," Dahlia said. "And if there's anything you don't want to do, let me know! Don't hesitate just cause you think it'll bring the vibe down. It totally won't."

I put my hands up quickly. "It's fine! I actually enjoy drinking, believe it or not." I let out a little chuckle. "I just don't do it a lot."

"Well, if you like to drink...Let's see how much you can handle." Dahlia got the most imp-like look on her face before pouring another round of shots. She looked at everyone after we took the second shot. I could feel my face getting warmer and felt a little childish-I was a lightweight, for sure. They were all acting fine, and my face was probably going to be lobster-red in a moment or two. "Guys, I have a proposition."

Stan grabbed a bottle of Jameson off the table and took a drink of that before resting his head atop Clover's and looking at Dahlia expectantly. "What is it?"

"I think Cecily deserves the worm this go-round, don't you?" She looked at everyone before meeting my eyes. "It's the best part of tequila, I swear to God."

"That's a good idea," piped up Clover.

One by one, everyone agreed, and I'm convinced that the alcohol is what made me say "okay" to anything concerning a worm and my drink. After a couple more rounds of shots (for them, not me-I chose to finish off my Smirnoff before having another shot), and about 30 minutes, the final round was poured, and mine contained a little worm that I was expected to eat. It grossed me out a little, but by this time the alcohol was starting to get to all of us, and I was getting _really_ comfortable, so I went ahead and did it. They whooped and cheered, and I couldn't help but grin again at them. I was having a blast-I'd have to remember to thank them.

My head swam a bit and I sat down on the couch, half-heartedly pulling the bottom of my dress down so it didn't ride up on my thighs. I was handed another bottle of Smirnoff, along with a bottle of soda someone had thoughtfully decided to give me. I chose to open that one first-I didn't want to overdo it, of course-as Dahlia sat down beside me. Her face was red and she smiled widely at me. "You're like, the chillest person I've ever fucking met."

"Thanks," I laughed. "I like you guys too."

"I wanna kiss you," Dahlia said then, grabbing my face. Without another word, she pulled me to her, putting her lips to mine. I didn't move for a moment, registering the surprise. I wasn't sure what to do-I'd never kissed like _this_ before. Jimmy's little innocent, chaste kisses were completely different from this-the way she was running her tongue along my bottom lip and nipping at it wasn't too unpleasant, if I was completely honest with myself. She tugged at my hair after a minute, biting my lip and giggling to herself against my mouth. "You're a fun kisser."

I grinned against her mouth, and let out a small chuckle of my own. I was just following her lead… I wasn't sure how long we sat there, but it was long enough for Craig to clear his throat behind me. I pulled back from Dahlia, leaning back against the armrest and smiling at him as I looked up at him. "You jealous?"

"You've lost your goddamn mind," he said, but leaned down to kiss me anyway.

I heard a loud whistle on the other side of the room and smiled against his lips. "It's nice kissing you. I want to keep doing it," I murmured. "And apparently other people want me to, too."

He didn't say anything, walking off instead. I heard the top to a beer or Smirnoff hit the floor and sat up to see him chugging whatever he had (brown bottle, so I guessed it was a beer). I looked at Dahlia, who was also watching him and she shrugged. "Dunno what his problem is…" She shrugged again and grinned. "Open up your booze and let's drink more!" She hopped up and walked back to the table, getting a Smirnoff for herself.

I laughed at her, and nodded, popping the top off the Smirnoff I'd been handed. "Cheers!"

I heard a couple snorts of laughter before Craig walked back over to the couch, sitting down where Dahlia had been. He didn't look at me, and I put my hand on his thigh, leaning over to look at him in concern. "Are you okay? I didn't disappoint you, did I?" I frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, I can try again…"

"Don't," he said stiffly, sitting rigidly. "I..Just don't worry about it. It's not you. You're fine."

I removed my hand and sat back, taking another drink. I started to feel a little queasy, so I set the bottle down to switch it to the soda. I knew now that I was _drunk_ , but I also knew when to quit. I fiddled with the bottom of my dress, smoothing it out and playing with it since I didn't know what to do or say. I heard Dahlia, Clover, Stan and Kenny having a great time in the background, laughing and cutting up. They called me over and I politely declined, knowing that my face would be making quick friends with the floor if I tried to get up. They laughed again, and told me if I needed somewhere to pass out, they had a spare third bedroom I could use. I nodded and waited a moment to try to get there. I didn't want to fall in front of everyone.

Craig grabbed my arm and I looked at him. "I can help you if you need me to."

I smiled at him. "I would love that," I said. "If you don't I'm gonna fall down...It's not gonna be pretty getting back up." He helped me off the couch, an arm around my waist as I leaned into him. It felt nice, even if it was just because I was drunker than four hells and couldn't walk on my own. When we got into the room and Craig shut the door, I pushed him against it with a thud and kissed him hard, gripping his collar in my hands and pushing my body as close to his as I could.

" _Fuck_ ," he murmured against my lips, his hands on my ass and pulling me closer to him, if that was possible. In a quick movement, he flipped me back against the door and flicked the lock with a hand before wedging a knee between my thighs and putting his hands up on the door to help prop himself up. I leaned back against the door, releasing his shirt and looking up into his eyes, which were almost-black by this point. "You're playing with fucking fire, and you're gonna get burned." He pushed his body up against mine, nudging my chin up with his nose. He pressed his lips on the base of my neck where my shoulder started. "If you want to stop now would be the time to tell me." The feel of his breath made me shudder and I shook my head.

"Please, don't," I said before I realized what I was saying.

"Tell me you want it," he said, grinding his knee against me.

I whimpered, leaning my head back against the door. "Craig…"

"Goddammit, Blondie," He growled, hauling me up and dropping me rather ungracefully on the bed before climbing on top of me, knee making its way back between my legs and kissing the breath out of me. He braced himself up on one arm, the other one pushing my dress up around my hips. He hooked his finger in the side of the lacy underwear I wore and grinned against my mouth. "Oh, so you do wear this kind of thing…"

"You were wondering about what I wore underneath my clothes?" I teased gently, though he made it hard with the way he slowly tugged on the fabric to get it off. His fingers ghosted over my hip and I whined, arching my back and making him grin at me.

"Can't say it didn't cross my mind," he said, and nothing else was said after that.

He flipped the light off, I supposed out of respect for me, since I was feeling a tad uncomfortable once he got my dress off me and I was completely unclothed. After that, things heated rather quickly and I didn't remember a lot other than a lot of whines that couldn't have been coming from anyone but me. I'm sure I whimpered his name thousands of times, and vaguely recalled him whispering filthy things to me that should have turned me off but apparently drunk and horny me really liked what he was saying. I'm also fairly sure I saw fireworks more than once and when we finally finished he passed out beside me, not touching me at all. I knew he was way more sober than I was, and while it should have upset me, it didn't and I crashed after pulling my underwear back on so I wasn't completely naked.

* * *

The next day I woke up alone with a headache and a queasy stomach. I sat forward, putting my hands in my hair and rubbed my face. When I looked around I realized I hadn't taken my contacts out before bed and sighed. Not that it was really a huge deal that I slept in them but I still didn't like doing it. I got out of bed, grabbing my dress and pulling that on so I could sneak out to get my bag and change my clothes. Dahlia, who was still in her underwear, was already up and cooking breakfast (which, judging by the clock in the kitchen it was nearly 1pm so it wasn't _really_ breakfast), and she smiled at me when I walked in. "Good morning..ish," she laughed to herself. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," I said, my face turning beet red at the memory of the night before. "I, um...slept really well."

"That's good," she said, flipping a pancake. "Hungry?"

"Not today," I said with a grimace, then looked at her wide-eyed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that."

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, I completely understand."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I have never drank that much in my life."

"Oh, darlin', you _have_ to come hang out more. We'll get you to where we are." She giggled to herself. "So. You and Craig?"

"The answer is still no," I said. "We just...spent the night together. There's still nothing between us." I grabbed my bag, flipping it up over my shoulder. My head throbbed as I looked back at her. "I just don't know how to tell Jimmy, you know? Like...I don't know if we're actually a thing, or if it was just one date, or what, but I can't just _lie_ to him."

"I understand," she said. "But hey, I know it sounds bad, but if the subject never comes up, then I wouldn't worry about it. Craig was a one-night stand, and if you and Jimmy aren't together yet, it's no big deal." She shrugged. "I mean, you can tell him if you want, but I personally don't recommend it yet, you know?" She looked at me thoughtfully. "However, being Jimmy, I'm not sure how much he'd _care._ "

I sighed to myself. "I guess you're right." I smiled at her. "Thanks, Dahlia."

"Not a problem," she replied.

I went ahead to the room they let me use, changing quickly and after a quick thanks and goodbye, I began my long drive home.

* * *

Hope you guys are liking it! Thanks for reading :)


	4. Chapter 4

I'M GONNA KICK MY OWN ASS

I'VE BEEN SITTING ON THIS CHAPTER WHEN I COULD HAVE UPLOADED IT FOR YOU

i'm really sorry T_T

those of you who are still with me I am so thankful for you and I haven't forgotten about this story... I have been otherwise preoccupied, but I'm wanting to get back in the swing of things. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this~

* * *

LEXI

"Lexi! Phone!"

I looked up from the time clock as I finished punching out, wondering who could be calling _now_ , as I was getting ready to leave. No doubt it was that lousy mother of mine, calling to make sure I'd have enough tip money to pay her this time-lately she'd been a warden, keeping track of when I'd be leaving and when I'd be back. She claimed it was "all out of love", because of what had happened to me in the parking lot, but I knew more than anyone it was a load of bullshit and just to keep up appearances. Wouldn't want anyone to know that she was stealing money from her youngest, now, would she?

"Hello," I said, trying not to be rude, but failing. I just _knew._

Imagine my surprise when the voice I heard was obviously masculine and not one I was entirely familiar with. "Lexi? It's Clyde...the guy from the other night? Are you free tonight after work? I'll meet you in the parking lot...I just wanted to see you." I could almost hear the blush on his face over the phone and couldn't help but grin.

"I guess I owe you."

"Nah. You don't owe me anything-you paid us, remember?" He paused. "And even if you didn't, I still don't want anything."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Well, I'm off, anyway. If you wanna come visit me so bad, I'll be in my car with the doors locked."

"Perfect!" He said. "I'll be up there in a few. I have to stop somewhere first, but if you're willing to wait just a second or two, I'll make it quick."

"Ah, sure. I have nothing else to do tonight," I said. I was lying, and I'd surely have my mother blowing my phone up, but...for some reason...I felt like he was worth it. _That_ was likely due to the fact he saved my life. Well, whether it was or not, I decided to play along with him, at least for tonight. I grabbed my jacket from my locker, saying a rushed "goodbye" to Lexus and Mercedes before walking out the door. I heard their whispers-I knew they were gossipping, wondering just who that mystery man was on the phone, and why was I _smiling?_ I shook my head, brushing them off as I went to the car. Something told me this was a terrible idea...but at this point, he was salvation from something else-home. And that was worth waiting a million years on him, even if he was just an asshole with ulterior motives.

I didn't have to wait long on him, wasting time on Facebook and Twitter while I charged my phone. I heard a knock on my window, and rolled it down to see a huge bouquet of various flowers in Clyde's hand. I gasped a little, clearly not expecting anything like _that_ (when was the last time someone had gotten me flowers? Had it really been since my dad died?), and taking them when offered. I set them in the seat beside me, and opened the door slightly, stepping out and leaning against the car. "Thank you."

"It was nothin'," he said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. I could have sworn I saw a little blush in the dim streetlight. "I just...yeah. I wanted to come see you. Make sure you're okay. And...uh, I wanted to give you some flowers."

I let out an embarrassed laugh. "Thanks," I said. "But I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." I looked at him. "So how's your friend?"

"He's fine. His girlfriend's been taking good care of him," he said with a grin. "You should come hang out with us. I think you guys would get along."

"I'm not exactly a people person," I said with a shake of my head. "Has it occurred to you that I may be just being nice 'cause it's my job?"

He shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Well, it was worth a try, anyway." He looked at me seriously. "For what it's worth, I think you're pretty honest right now."

"You're different," I said, after a second, looking away. "You saved my ass." I looked at him teasingly. "But! Don't expect me to fall in love with you, okay?"

He blushed wildly, shaking his head. "No-I didn't-" He sputtered, holding his hands up. He stopped when I started laughing, and chuckled to himself. "I dunno...I guess I like you. Or, maybe that's just because I felt like I had to protect you." He shrugged again. "If you want me to leave you alone, all you have to do is tell me." He didn't look upset.

"I…" I wasn't sure how to answer him. I didn't _want_ to-he didn't _seem_ like a bad guy. I sighed after a moment or two, deciding to default back to the way I'd been back in high school-give him a chance, lead him on and leave him. Easy as that. "You don't have to. I guess I can come hang out with your friends some."

"Really? Sweet! Ceci will love you, I know it!" He said with a grin. "Ah...can I have your number? That way, next time we hang out… I can call you."

I nodded, giving it to him. "I guess I'll see you later?"

"Mm, yeah," he said with a smile. "Goodnight, Lexi. Thanks for meeting me."

"No problem," I said. "Thanks for the flowers."

He blushed as he waved and walked back to his car, and I got in the front seat of mine, rolling the window back up and flipping the radio on. "I should know better," I murmured to myself. "I'm a grown woman, and I should fucking know better. Don't accept flowers from random men. Don't get sucked into their games. Especially men like him. Fucking dangerous, Alexis. You know better." I looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror and shook my head. "Look at you. Blushing over some fucking flowers... Pathetic. You know his type." I looked back down at the steering wheel, putting my seatbelt on and sighing as I began to back out of the parking lot. It wasn't often that I talked to myself out loud, but this particular night it helped my frantic heart stop racing. I had to get ahold of myself. It was ridiculous.

Gianna's car was in the garage when I got home, and since it was fairly late, I figured she was staying over again. _Great._ I sighed, counting my tips, ready to hand over half of it to my greedy mother as soon as I walked in the door. Or to Gianna-whoever wanted it, I'd probably give it to them...I didn't feel like fighting tonight.

"Hey," Gianna called to me when I walked in the front door, flowers and keys in one hand, money in the other. "How was work? Mom's in bed."

"I'm surprised," I said with a snort. "Fine." I held the money out to her and she shook her head, putting a finger to her lips.

"Keep it. I know you're hurting for money and Ma's not up to steal it tonight. I'll take the heat for you."

I looked at her in surprise, but pocketed the money. "Thanks…" I sat down at the island in the middle of the enormous kitchen, next to her. "I guess you're not that bad when Charlotte's not up."

She shrugged. "I get tired of hearing it too." She gestured to the flowers. "So...you have a boyfriend now?"

I shook my head. "Just some guy that's interested. He brought these to me at work today." I avoided telling her about the incident before-I'm sure my mother had let her know but I wasn't going to bring it up if I didn't have to.

"They're pretty."

"Mm," I said with an involuntary sigh. "He has good taste I guess." I smiled a little bit, touching at a daisy on the top of the bouquet. "And I suppose it's not all bad getting flowers from a guy that doesn't seem sleazy."

"Still have to watch it," Gianna warned, using a tanned hand to grip her glass on the counter. She took a sip through her straw and looked back at me. "You can't be too careful with them, you know?"

"You know I do," I said with a dirty look her way. I frowned slightly when I noticed that she looked upset, rather than her typical cool, level expression-the face she put on specifically for us, at least when Charlotte was around. It was a mask, had always been a mask, but…she was showing her true face for once, and I wondered just what it was to make her make _that_ face. "Gio? What's wrong? Why do you look upset?"

"...Aren't you wonderin' why I'm even here?"

"Well, yeah, but I figured it was to see Charlotte," I said with a shrug. "What's up? I don't like you making that face. Stop it."

She smiled at me a little bit before downing the rest of what was in her glass. "It's funny you have a guy that's interested."

"And why's that botherin' you?" I snapped. "You've got a thousand men interested, so why is it funny that I have _one_?"

"You ever have a pregnancy scare with any of your boyfriends?" She said then. Her pose reminded me of a bar scene-hands wrapped around her glass, head bowed and the angst in her voice was unnerving me. She had to have been drunk. _Really_ drunk. She was always one to express way more emotion while inebriated than while sober.

"I've never fucked anyone, so no," I said, and was rewarded by a slightly surprised look on her end. Clearly, she believed the same thing as everyone else did and I remembered for a second why I disliked my sister.

"Oh…" She looked at the counter again. "Well...my scare wasn't actually a scare, to put it simply. I'm pregnant."

It took me a minute-a _long_ minute-to process what she'd just told me and it was my turn to look shocked. "You're lyin'. If this is a joke, Gio, I swear to God I'm gonna punch you so hard."

She shook her head. "Nope. You think I'd lie about something like that?" The look I gave her said it all, and she let out a dry little scoff. "Yeah, nevermind. You _would_ think I'd lie about that. I've been a shitty sister to you, and I'm sorry."

"It's a little late to apologize," I said. "You think that I'll just fawn over you like _she_ does the minute you get knocked up? After an apology? Look, sorry but I can't forget all that shit in the past, ya know."

"Ma's not happy with me," she said after a long while. "She said she'd disown me, you know that?" She put her head down on the counter with her hand over her eyes. "I'm not asking for sympathy."

"Oh, cut the bullshit," I snorted. "You are, Gianna." After another long minute, I sighed and touched her shoulder. "Look. What is it you want from me? I don't know whether to be sorry you're pregnant, or not sorry-you know we got bad blood between us and I can't get excited right now. I'm not blowin' glitter up your ass, so if that's what you wanted then you may as well go home right now-I can't do it."

"So what _should_ I do?" She asked, looking at me. It was the first time she'd ever asked me for help and it caught me off guard. "Ma doesn't want me to keep it. I don't know if I wanna keep it."

"Do you know who the dad is?" I asked her.

"No," she said, biting her lip. "That's why Ma's so disappointed. She says she'll pay to abort but I dunno if I wanna do that or not." She was beginning to tear up. "Like, what if I have a baby that loves me and not just for the money I make? Or what if I end up like Ma?" She threw herself at me in a hug and I could smell the alcohol on her. She'd been drinking tonight-heavily.

"I can't tell you what to do."

"I want _advice_."

"If you want it, keep it," I said. "That's all I can tell you. You're gonna be the one chasing it around for the next 18 years, so that's _your_ call, not mine."

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Yeah, you're right." She pulled back, patting me on the head with a teary smile. "Thanks."

"Go take a shower. You reek," I said in answer, standing up and taking my flowers to my room with me. I shut and locked the door, sitting down on the bed and sighing heavily. My stomach hurt, my heart pounded and honestly all I wanted to do was fight...This was the _last_ thing our family needed. I looked at the flowers in my hand and gave a disgusted snort. He was probably one of _those_ guys-the "nice" guys that expected you to fucking blow them for a pretty flower. I slapped them to the floor before kicking my shoes off and rolling over in my bed. So much headache-I'd go gray before hitting 30, I was fucking positive of it.

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Well as seen in the header of the last chapter, I am a dummy, but here you go! Another new chapter, whoo-hooooo~~ It's a bit longer than the last one, too.

* * *

-CECILY-

"Hey!" Clyde said cheerily, poking me in the sides after class, making me jump. I gave him a dirty look before returning the hello, and waited on him to tell me what was up-it had to be something good if he was going to scare me like that to get my attention. "So, you have to come to South Park soon."

"I'm a little short on cash this week," I said, looking down and giving him a sheepish grin. "Sorry, but I think it'll have to wait until next week."

"Ah, damn," he said with a slight huff. "There's this girl I want you guys to meet."

"Am I one of the guys now?" I asked with an involuntary smile at him. My heart started to beat a little faster-I was really accepted now, wasn't I?

"Yeah, dude!" He nodded, grinning himself. "You didn't know that?"

"It's not just because I'm dating Jimmy?" I teased. I really had loosened up a lot around Clyde, at least, and didn't watch as closely what I said. It would be a train wreck next time I saw Craig, however-I hadn't spoken a word to him since our drunken night together more than a week ago. He didn't seem inclined to call or speak to me either, and part of me was a little relieved-I didn't feel as guilty when talking with Jimmy.

"Nah," he said with a shake of his head. "Actually, I wanted to ask you to hang out before, but I never knew how."

"You don't seem the shy type," I said thoughtfully.

"If I hadn't seen you with Dahlia and Clover that night I don't think I would have had the balls to ask you to hang out with us," he said with a sheepish grin of his own. His dark eyes met mine and he grinned a little wider. "If it hadn't been me, Craig would'a done it after you ran into him."

"I don't believe that," I said then blushed at the tone that came out of my mouth. It took all I had not to snort after the statement. "All he does is pick on me."

"He _liiiikes_ you," he drawled teasingly, bumping me with an elbow.

"Shut up, you idiot," I heard a familiar voice say and I almost heard the eye-rolling in his tone.

"Ah, hi," I said, looking up at the raven-haired man and looking right back down, my face turning lobster-red (and I'm sure other shades of red, as well). "I didn't expect to run into you today."

"...We have school the same days, Blondie," he deadpanned. "Or did you forget?"

"I know…" I said slowly, and my face felt even hotter. "I just mean, I didn't think you wanted to talk to me anymore. You know...cause of the drinking and all that night." I didn't have to elaborate for him to know what I was talking about(to my relief, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to explain my way out of that one with the brunette).

"I have no reason not to talk to you," he said. He tapped my shoulder. "Unless _you're_ pissed-all you have to do is tell me to fuck off." He didn't sound upset with me, so I took it as a good sign(although Craig's "upset" and "not-upset" sounded very similar to each other most of the time).

"I'm not mad," I said quickly, holding my hands up as I turned to look at him. I could barely meet his eyes but was proud of myself when I did. "There's no reason for me to be mad at you."

"Then it was a misunderstanding," he said simply.

"Wait a minute," Clyde piped in finally. "Did something happen between you guys? And you didn't tell me?" He gave an accusing glare at Craig.

"It's none of your business," Craig said back. "It's between me and Blondie."

"So...we only thought that we were mad at each other?" I said, then bit my lip. "I'm glad…" I let out a small laugh. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," he said with a snort. "When are you coming back to South Park?"

"I can't this week. I'm short on cash, so I'm going to try to make some stuff to sell," I said. "Sorry, guys. Clyde asked me to come too and I had to tell him no." I cocked my head to the side. "Is the girl you want us to meet your girlfriend, Clyde?" I blushed again then. "Sorry, sorry, I'm being nosy."

"Nah, not yet," he replied. "But I want her to hang out with all of us before I ask her out...cause if we're gonna be together I want her to meet you guys."

"That's considerate," I said with a smile. "I'll let you know when I'm free to come, but really-you don't have to wait on me."

"If you wanna come and need a ride, let me know," Craig said with a look at me. "It's not a big deal to pick you up once in a while."

"You've picked me up almost every time I've come to town," I protested, shaking my head. "I don't want to impose at all!"

"You're not. I offered," Craig said, and his tone said no arguments. "I'll follow you home Thursday and you can just ride home with us. Grab some extra clothes and I'll bring you back before class again Tuesday."

"...I hope you're joking," I said with a blush. "I mean, I do appreciate the offer-"

Clyde interrupted. "You're not going to change his mind."

"Are you sure? Seriously, you don't have to-"

"Blondie."

"-I can drive myself and I don't want to put you out-"

"Blondie."

"-You guys do so much for me and spend so much gas money getting back and forth-"

Craig finally let out a deep sigh, grabbing my chin and sealing the rest of my words with a kiss, stunning both myself and Clyde into silence. "Goddamn, Blondie. Shut up once in a while and listen. Jesus."

I looked at the floor, biting my lip. "Sorry," I squeaked.

"And that, stop apologizing," he said.

"S-"

"Hey, dude, you know she's dating Jimmy, right?" Clyde said, tapping his friend on the shoulder. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked between the both of us. "You guys are really weird today."

I didn't know what to say, and Craig didn't seem as if he even _wanted_ to say anything, leaving me to scramble to find _some_ way to explain the kiss away. "He…he doesn't know how to keep his hands to himself!" I finally said lamely. "It wasn't enough picking on me with words, now he has to see if I'll get flustered with kisses." I snorted haughtily, knowing how thick I was laying on the acting and put my nose in the air. "Well, it's not going to work." _Liar._

It took a minute before Craig snorted a laugh and I saw him cover his mouth with his hand for a second before running his hand through his hair and giving me a crooked smirk. "You think we fell for _that_?" He tapped me under the chin with his index finger before walking off in front of me, toward-wait, he was walking to _my_ car? "You better brush up on your acting, Blondie, if you think that's acceptable. I've more than flustered you."

I puffed up my cheeks, clenching my fists and glaring at his back. "Ooh, shut up, Craig. You suck."

Clyde looked at me strangely before looking at Craig's retreating back. "Kenny must be rubbin' off on him."

I looked at Clyde, straightening my back as we started to walk together. "Whatever it is, I hope it stops soon. I don't like being embarrassed like that."

"Seems like everybody wants to kiss you," he said thoughtfully and I blanched, looking at him wide-eyed. I didn't have to say anything before he raised two fingers-one for Jimmy and one for Craig.

"You don't want to, right?" I said a little nervously, making him laugh and shake his head. I let my shoulders slump in relief. "Oh, my God, thank you." I sighed heavily. "I've never had this much male attention in my _life_."

He laughed, clapping me on the shoulder as we started to follow Craig once again. "Don't worry about it. Really, it's the glasses. They make you look _so old_."

I gave him a dirty look. "Thanks…" I put my hands over the sides a little dramatically (I tended to get dramatic...I chalked it up to not having any social skills). "They're just more comfortable than the contacts...I probably wouldn't wear them half as much in South Park if you guys didn't play basketball as often."

He patted my head then. "I guess we're going to have to play basketball every time, then."

I blushed, but couldn't help but laugh. "And here I thought you were going to be a little sympathetic."

He merely winked at me as we got outside and he rushed forward to my car, where Craig was loitering boredly, leaning against the side of it as he searched through his phone. He looked up as we reached, lifting a hand in greeting. "Was wondering when you slowpokes would finally catch up."

"Ceci's gonna give up those old-lady glasses," Clyde said, as if it were _that_ important.

Craig raised an eyebrow at me. "About goddamn time."

"I never said that…" I protested, hands on the sides of my glasses for the second time, frowning lightly. "I happen to _like_ these."

"And that's why you look like a 100-year-old librarian," Craig said, patting me on the top of the head. "You know how I keep telling you to loosen up? Getting rid of these would be a good start." He grabbed the bridge and pulled them off, ruffling my hair. "See? You look better already."

I yanked the glasses back and straightened my hair after replacing them to their rightful place on my face, which I'm sure was lobster-red by now. He knew how flustered I was getting thanks to him, and it was hard to come up with a good retort. "Thanks," I said with a snort. "But I have to have these to get home."

He shrugged at me. "Whatever you say, Grandma."

My mouth dropped open as he walked away from me, Clyde laughing as he followed the taller man. I puffed out my cheeks, slinging my bag into the backseat and hopping in the car without so much as a goodbye. He waved at me as I drove past him, making me snort at him and I could almost hear his laugh as I left him in the dust. ... _Why_ did I like him so much…?

* * *

Two days later, I was seated in Craig's front seat, Clyde in the back with his arms draped over the backs of our seats and leaning forward with the goofiest grin on his face. My arms were crossed over my chest, face red and I sulked like a child, rewarded with a smug grin from the raven-haired driver in the seat beside me. "You're _really bad_ at saying no, Blondie."

Clyde snickered. "Yeah, you really are."

"Kidnappers," I muttered, snorting. "The both of you."

"You willingly got in the car," Craig said with a smirk my direction.

"You took my glasses…" I looked at him through blurry eyes.

"You're welcome," he said, looking back at the road.

"I can't _see,_ " I said.

"Hold on, princess, and we'll get you your contacts," he assured me, pulling in front of my apartment. "Do I need to help you inside or will you be okay?"

"I feel like you're making fun of me," I said, getting out of the car. "I'm fine. I'll be right back."

"Don't forget your clothes," Clyde called behind me, as I walked up to my door and unlocked it. Or...attempted to unlock it. Since I couldn't really see what I was doing, it took me three or four times before finally getting it unlocked and getting inside, only to stumble over the threshold on my way in.

 _Damn him,_ I thought, and shook my head, running a hand through the hair that had fallen out of my loose ponytail. They'd really started to rub off on me, and soon I'd be just like them...Not that it was a bad thing to get a backbone. However, I was changing fast and wasn't sure I'd like what I'd become if I kept on. After a second or two of thought, I shrugged and walked into my room.

I picked up a few outfits (enough to get me through the weekend and a decent one for school on Tuesday), throwing them into a spare backpack I had laying around. I walked into my bathroom, washing my hands and putting my contacts in to wear (since, of course, my "librarian" glasses were being held hostage at the moment). After walking around to make sure I'd gotten all I needed, I exited and locked my apartment, and walked back to the car. Craig popped the trunk for me to toss my things, and I returned to the passenger's side and slid in the car. Nothing was said as Craig began to drive, and I pulled my phone out to text Jimmy before I got too car sick (and I did _not_ need yet another thing for Craig to tease me about).

"S-so…" I cleared my throat after about an hour of driving. "Um, where exactly am I going to be staying?"

"Huh?" Craig said offhandedly, flicking his eyes in my direction before going back to the road. "With me."

"...But won't that look suspicious…?" I asked, my face burning. "You know, considering I'm kinda...with Jimmy…" I wrung my hands in my lap and looked down. "I mean, I appreciate the offer but-"

"You don't trust me?"

"I, um…" I stammered, fumbling for words.

"You can trust him, Ceci," Clyde said, patting my head. "He's a good guy. An asshole, but a good guy."

"I'm not gonna take advantage of you, if that's what you're worried about," Craig said, shaking his head.

"Heh," I said, looking down at my hands again, my face hot in a blush that I was convinced would go radioactive. "I-I'm not worried about that at all…" I fiddled with my hair then, keeping my eyes trained on my lap. "But...y'know...don't people talk? In small towns..?"

"It's none of their goddamn business who stays at my house," he said flatly.

I nodded at him, smiling to myself. "Ah, I guess you're right… Sorry. I guess that was a dumb question."

"And since you're worried about Jimmy, I'm just gonna tell you now that he's been told by us-and I'm sure you-so he's not pissed either," Craig continued. "So you're gettin' your panties in a wad for no reason."

I nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Okay, good."

He raised an eyebrow at me before turning his attention to the road, but I knew what he was thinking. Why was I so worried about Jimmy _now_ , _after_ I'd been in bed with him? I avoided eye contact-luckily Clyde couldn't see, since he was behind us-and looked out the window for the rest of the trip. Once we got to Craig's, Clyde told us he needed to go home, since it was right next door-homework was his excuse, but I had the feeling he wanted to get away from the tension in the air, since it was still a little awkward. He told us he'd come by after he was finished, and we waved goodbye as he dashed out of the garage. Once he was out of line of sight, Craig tipped my head back to steal a kiss and took a step back. "You're bad at saying no."

"I didn't know you were going to kiss me again."

"Can't you react any faster?" He teased, leaning in again.

I put my hand over his mouth this time and shook my head. "I thought I could trust you not to take advantage of me?"

"Just gettin' that out of my system," he said, shrugging and gesturing for me to follow him in the house, after popping the trunk and grabbing my bags.

"You don't have to-"

"If you tell me _I don't have to_ do something one more time…" He let the threat trail, knowing I was going to stop what I was saying and follow him. He was right and I nodded, walking back to his room with him. His sister-or, someone I'm assuming was his sister-was sitting at the kitchen table, still in her pajamas and eating a bowl of cereal as she read something on her cell phone. "Hey, Tricia."

She merely lifted a hand at him as we walked by, toward what I was assuming was his bedroom. I felt a little relieved that she didn't draw attention to his having a girl with him there-however, it probably wasn't uncommon, either-and I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Part of me had imagined she'd be like him, so it was nice to find out that she wasn't. We reached his bedroom and he opened the door for me, holding an arm out for me to go first. "You can put your bag anywhere. You probably won't need it until later anyway."

"What are we doing?"

"Likely basketball or movies," he said. "No drinking. I can't trust you." _So...he can joke about that...I guess it's a good thing he's not bothered by it._

"Right," I said, nodding slightly, my face feeling hot (as it always did in his presence).

He nudged me with an elbow, grinning slightly at me. "I was joking."

I bit my lip, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "Yeah...I knew that."

"You're not gonna clam up on me, are you, Blondie?" He asked.

"I'm going to try not to," I said with a small smile. "After all, it would get boring if it stayed awkward until Tuesday…"

"Craig, Clyde ran into the glass door again," Tricia called from the kitchen, sounding rather bored. She had the same tone to her voice as her brother, and I wondered if they were that similar in personality. Then again...if Clyde always ran into their sliding door, it's no wonder she wasn't surprised.

"Goddamn, my nose hurts," I heard him groan as I heard the door open and his footsteps as he came in. My mood immediately lightened, and I noticed the look on Craig's face as I failed to smother a giggle once I knew Clyde was okay. I supposed he felt a bit put-off-after all, I was more comfortable around Clyde than I was Craig, at this point. _It's because I know I don't stand a chance,_ I thought. Even after Dahlia's reassurance that Craig, in fact, _may_ have liked me more than I thought he did, I wasn't completely convinced. "Stop laughin' Cecily, that shit hurts."

"Sorry, sorry," I said, trying unsuccessfully to quit giggling. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Are you really okay?"

"It's a wonder he even felt it at all," Craig drawled. "As many times as he's run into it."

"Yeah but it still fucking hurts," Clyde groaned. "I'll be okay but goddamn, you should get some stickers."

"Or you could pay attention…" Clyde snorted at Craig's statement, then groaned again, rubbing the bridge of his nose before sighing. Craig grinned. "Let's get out of here, if we're going to meet your girlfriend today."

"She's working," he said, then looked at the floor. "I, um…"

"You're not _nervous_ , are you?" Craig teased.

"Just because _you_ don't get nervous, doesn't mean _I_ don't," Clyde grumbled. "I'm going to say something dumb, I know it."

"So what if you do? Don't you girls like it when guys trip all over themselves or something?" He jabbed a thumb in Clyde's direction. "Works for this guy, anyway."

"But she's _different_ ," Clyde whimpered.

"Oh, stop your whining. Look, we'll pop into Raisins, drink a little, then we'll talk to her. Hell, if we're lucky she'll be our waitress," Craig said.

"So I'll embarrass myself by dropping food everywhere," he said.

"I think you're overthinking things, Clyde," I said softly. "Don't worry about her. You saved her, remember? She probably already thinks you're cool." I laughed to myself. "After all, you _did_ break Jimmy's crutch to scare those guys away."

"Thanks, Cecily," he said, sighing. "You're right."

I smiled sheepishly, rubbing my cheek absently.. "I was just rephrasing what Craig was telling you, but I'm glad that it helped a little." I looked up at Craig, then back to Clyde. "I'm confident you won't do anything to mess it up." After a little chuckle, I looked at him. "After all, it is a little endearing to see someone flustered over you."

Craig snorted. "See? You've got nothing to worry about. Now let's go. I'm fucking starving."

"Yeah," Clyde said nervously, then tried to grin a little more confidently. "Yeah. You're right. Let's go."

* * *

That's it for this chapter. I hope to see you soon with a new addition!


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